


Something Blue

by luinel (geekns)



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alien Flora & Fauna, Alien Mythology/Religion, Alien Planet, Childbirth, Express Delivery trope, F/M, Unplanned Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-02-13
Updated: 2017-09-08
Packaged: 2018-12-25 12:39:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 26,214
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12036072
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/geekns/pseuds/luinel
Summary: The Doctor and Donna visit a planet at random and stumble upon an agrarian/historical/scientific theme park!  What secrets will they uncover? Babyfic with >> fastforward pregnancy trope.





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> disclaimer: This would never actually happen on a children's or family show. The Doctor and Donna still belongs to BBC.

The Tardis' engines stopped with their familiar boom, and the doors parted to reveal Donna and the Doctor's inquisitive faces. They were parked across from a perfectly normal field, the back of the Doctor's ship set against a large concrete wall.  
  
“So where are we this time?” Donna asked.  
  
“Don't know, I don't think I've ever been here before.” They stepped out into a cool morning with pleasantly warm sunshine and the Doctor closed the Tardis doors behind them. Ship locked, they began walking along the wall towards the familiar sound of excited voices. After only a few hundred meters they came upon the entrance (over, not through the wall), next to which stood a large sign.  
  


WELCOME TO  
**& @&^#@%***  
PLEASE SIGN THE BOOK  
FEEL FREE TO PICK YOUR OWN FRUIT

  
A queue had formed in front of this sign, and a great many people were milling about. Most of the aliens were couples, but there were a few family groups and school field trips. The Doctor and Donna joined the queue without discussion, this was obviously what they were here to see. After a few minutes they reached the front of the queue and the Doctor picked up the pen. An employee handed Donna a pail and a brochure, which she flipped through. It contained a map of the grounds, the usual information.  
  
“Enjoy your stay,” the employee smiled.  
  
“Thanks,” the Doctor smiled back. He took the pail from Donna, and they fell into their usual relaxed gait which meant that there was nothing to run away from or towards for the time being. They followed the flow of the crowd towards a staircase that hugged the wall and presumably provided a way over it, into the park.  
  
“Why hasn't the Tardis translated the name of this place?” Donna asked, pocketing the brochure.  
  
“Might not have a true translation into English or Gallifreyan,” the Doctor replied. “Maybe it's a joke that doesn't quite make sense like that one in Monty Python.”  
  
“Ha ha,” Donna stated without humor. “Do you know where we are yet?”  
  
“Didn't you read the brochure?”  
  
“Glanced at it, but I'm not the one who claims to know all there is to know about space and time.”  
  
“We're on the planet of Flush, an agrarian paradise.”  
  
“Oo, someone was reading over my shoulder while I wasn't looking.”  
  
“Yep,” he popped the p. “I have heard of this planet, but never heard of anything special about it. I don't think that the Library has much to say about it's history or society. So far it looks pretty standard.”  
  
The pair paused as they reached a viewpoint on the top of the wall. There were several large signs with familiar words such as YOU ARE HERE relating how to get to certain areas of the facility. Donna began to scan the signs. The Doctor, on the other hand, was distracted by the view. He whistled: “That is impressive.”  
  
Before them lay orchards that spread as far as the eyes could see. The concrete wall obviously encompassed the entire park, but the other side of the complex was so distant that even the Doctor couldn't make out the far side of its borders. Sprinkled throughout the park were waypoints: historical markers, a museum, a science center, a reenactment town, an open air market, a campground with cabins, a luxury resort way on the other side of the park, and in the center the ruins of a stone temple.  
  
“Where do you want to go first?” Donna asked. “And before you ask, no, I do not want to go to the science center.” The Doctor's face fell, but he quickly covered:  
  
“What if we shop first and work our way towards the center?” he haggled.  
  
“Just so long as you realize that I will probably be parking my bum on a bench outside by the time we get there,” Donna remarked. “Particularly as I plan to be picking fruit and visiting those ruins on the way.” The Doctor grinned:  
  
“Allons-y!”  
  
The market seemed pretty standard. There were souvenirs, a plethora of idols that they didn't recognize, and some food that was overpriced but convenient to ill-prepared picnickers such as themselves. Freshly baked bread, cheese, wine, it was enough to make Donna drool, it looked and smelled delicious. The Doctor appointed himself to shop for the food while Donna looked longingly at some dresses and jewelry that were featured at several booths.  
  
The fabric was so  _soft_ , like nothing she had ever seen before. The dresses were mostly white, but some had been tie dyed or batiked with bright designs. She decided that she had to have a batiked one, peacock blue with lime green accents. The dresses weren't the most flattering cut, because they were long and loose, but she figured that the Tardis could always adapt the cut to better suit her. Living on the Tardis had definitely spoiled her. The shopkeeper upsold her to the package deal (Such a pretty woman needs jewelry to wear with her lovely dress) and insisted on wrapping the dress in small square cut of the same fabric dyed in a pastel color.  
  
“Green or blue madam?” the little old lady asked, gesturing to the two options of wrapping cloth. Donna was staring at the charm on the necklace, a circle dimpled in the center, carved with intricate designs.  
  
“Blue?” Donna didn't care, really.  
  
“Hoping for a girl then?” Donna's attention was finally pulled away from the jewelry.  
  
“What?” The old lady didn't seem to hear her.  
  
“I remember the day my boys came like it was yesterday...” she mused, launching into a story about what her boys had been like as babies, toddlers, etc. Her wizened but nimble fingers were expertly tying a leather thong around the package now, creating a handle while ensuring that the dress did not come unwrapped. Donna had no idea what the woman was on about, and nodded politely at intervals. She pulled the necklace over her head, took the package as soon as the woman would hand it to her, and hightailed it back to the Doctor's side.  
  
The Doctor was easing little loaves of bread wrapped in paper into the voluminous pockets of his coat. The sun was high in the sky and very warm now. Donna was surprised that he was still wearing it. She undid the top two buttons on her blouse and rolled up her sleeves. She hadn't expected this clear, warm weather, it had seemed milder when they had left the Tardis.  
  
“Oh here's your missus, then,” the Baker said.  
  
“We're not...”  
  
“Have a nice day,” he moved on to the next customer.  
  
“Can you believe his cheek?” the Doctor complained. “He kept trying to sell me from the senior citizen menu! Do I look like a senior citizen?!?”  
  
“You are a senior citizen,” Donna mocked. Well, he had walked right into that one. “Are you ready then?” The Doctor spluttered...  
  
“Senior?!? I'll have you know that I'm not yet middle aged!”  
  
“Fine, no need to make a fuss,” Donna responded, grabbing his hand and tugging him away from the staring customers who were queued to buy from the Baker.  
  
They bypassed the reenactors because the village was teaming with activity provided by the field trips and instead headed into the orchards. The choices here were amazing. There were blue raspberries, blue strawberries, blue apples...everything was blue! Donna couldn't help but bite into a blue peach as soon as she picked it. Blue juice slid down her chin, staining it. The Doctor tried to wipe it away, but only managed to make his fingers blue, too. They filled the pail until it was overflowing, laughing and bantering along the way, and then climbed halfway up the steps of the temple before they sat down to their picnic.  
  
The sun was high in the sky now, in fact it looked to be a little past noon. They had so much fun picking the fruit (and eating it along the way) that the bread was now quite cool, the cheese warm and soft. The Doctor cut it with a knife that he pulled from his pocket, and they ate until they were full. The lay back looking at the clouds passing by overhead, and the warm sun lulled them gently to sleep.  
  
  
  
Donna awoke with a start, feeling sweaty and thirsty. The Doctor was snoring beside her, and she realized that she had been using his shoulder as a pillow. His arm was wrapped around her, coaxing her towards his side, but he lay on his back, nose lifted towards the sky. It had gotten quite a bit dimmer since their lunch. Blue ants were stealing breadcrumbs. A bird chirped overhead, no doubt hoping to steal his own dinner.  
  
Donna stumbled to her feet. The Doctor probably had a water bottle in one of his pockets—he usually did—but for some reason, she didn't want to bother him. She wiped the sleep from her eyes, finger combed her hair, and set off looking for a place to get something to drink. She walked up the temple steps the rest of the way, and pulled out her map. There were symbols here and there marking loos, but there wasn't actually one at the temple itself. She rotated, trying to get her bearings, and noticed that the trees' leaves had turned from a spring green to a dark blue and were starting to fall off the trees.  
  
Gradually, Donna could make out the sound of running water nearby. She walked around the structure, staring at statues and columns, following her ears. Finally she reached a fountain. The statues were decaying, but the water still ran clear and cold. She guessed that the water came from underground since no rivers or streams ran nearby and this was obviously part of the ancient architecture. Normally Donna would have never have considered drinking straight from a fountain, but they had walked such a long way, and Donna had been so hot. She was  _so thirsty_. Donna dipped her mouth towards the water that was spraying out of the rock and drank deeply.


	2. Chapter 2

Cold water slid down Donna's dry throat, and she shuddered as it coiled in her stomach. The water tasted sweet and clean, and she began to drink it greedily. It was so cold and delicious. Her lips began to throb in pain, and then she got brain freeze. She had to pull back, gasping for air. But the trickle of water had not been enough to sate her thirst. Her mouth was wet again, her mouth flooding with saliva. She wanted more. As soon as she dared she leaned over the water again, gulping it down.  
  
The cold began to spread, then. It seemed to flow through her veins, causing her body to tingle all over. It felt glorious after the heat of the day. She washed her face and hands, slicking her bedraggled fringe off of her forehead, clipping it aside, before dipping her mouth to drink again. More, she must have more.  
  
Strong hands forcibly pulled her backwards, away from the fountain and spinning her to face him. She struggled to get back to the refreshing coolness...  
  
“Donna!” the Doctor practically yelled in her face, shocking her into awareness.  
  
“What?!?” she yelled right back.  
  
“Didn't you hear me calling you?” She blinked, gradually becoming reorientated.  
  
“No,” she admitted. The Doctor had pulled her into his arms, hugging her tightly.  
  
“When I woke up alone I was so worried. Never do that to me again.” She relaxed into his hold for a long moment, a tendril of cold flame slowly unfurling inside of her. What were they doing?  
  
“Hands,” she scolded, shrugging him off. He let go of her, his hands falling from her waist.  
  
“Why did you come here?” he asked, staring at the water.  
  
“I was thirsty,” she responded. He knelt down, putting his glasses on, and studied the fountain, tongue curled in contemplation.  
  
“You drank it without letting me check it first?” he asked. He leaned forward and neatly caught a mouthful of water, tasting it inquisitively.  
  
“You're one to talk...” Donna suddenly felt nervous. She felt as if she was being watched. It was starting to get dark, the heat of the day had passed, and she felt cold after drinking the water. The Doctor leaned down again, starting to lap up the cold water with more fervor. A chill ran down Donna's spine. “Doctor?” She didn't like this. It wasn't that she felt possessive of this watering hole, it was that watching from the outside felt vastly wrong, whereas when she had been drinking she had been obsessive about getting more.  
  
Donna shuddered in remembrance. “Doctor???” she called again. He didn't answer her, merely continued to drink the water. Donna knew that her instincts and her new pricklings of adrenaline were not something to be ignored, she grabbed the Doctor by his lapels and yanked him to his feet yelling “Oi!”  
  
The Doctor blinked, and it seemed to take him a moment to actually see Donna standing before him. He took off his glasses and slid them into his breastpocket, looking slightly sheepish.  
  
“Yes, well...” he blushed. “I don't think we're going to make it to the science center tonight, do you?”  
  
“No,” Donna confirmed. “It's too late for that. We need to find someplace to rest.” She let go of his lapels and turned away from the fountain. She remembered the map in her pocket and pulled it out. The Doctor studied it for only a mere moment.  
  
“Cabins are closest,” he noted, and lead the way back towards their picnic.  
  
“Yes,” she agreed, folding the map again, then following him away from the fountain. She resisted the urge to look at it again.  
  
  
  
Their provisions were recovered before the ants could carry them off, Donna and the Doctor began the walk towards the closest form of shelter for the night. Had they planned ahead, Donna probably would have insisted that they stay at the resort for the night, but instead their unscheduled nap had robbed them of any chance of that. Night was coming quickly, and cold was gradually descending upon the park. Even worse, they had lost sight of the temple and the wall, and as such had no idea which way they were going. The Doctor didn't mention this, of course, but Donna was aware enough of their surroundings to notice that they had walked in a circle and the last time they had been here it had been sunnier and warmer.  
  
“Wait here a moment...” the Doctor told her. He took a running leap and started to climb the largest tree in the near vicinity. Donna sighed and felt a crazy urge to follow him up that tree. Creaking and swaying of the tree were soon evident, despite the fact that the Doctor was fleet and surefooted. Most of the indigo colored leaves were crunching underfoot now, but those that remained soon began to make their journey downwards as well, disturbed by the presence of the Time Lord. It was as if fall was descending upon them with startling ferocity. And of course after fall came...Donna shivered and buttoned her blouse back up.  
  
“Doctor, why aren't you going on and on about how fascinating this place is?” she asked, getting nervous. She wanted to hear his voice again. He had been too quiet since the fountain. She began untangling the thong around the wrapped up dress.  
  
“I don't want to worry you, Donna,” his voice came back.  
  
“Yes grandfather,” she snarked, eventually untangling the mess. She pulled the cloth about her shoulders like a shawl. That felt nice, the dress was pleasantly warm and kept the breeze off her bare skin. The Doctor suddenly dropped out of the tree, landing quietly by her side. She sighed in relief as he stood up, taking her hand.  
  
“I've been listening for voices, sounds of civilization, but all I've been able to hear is you.”  She wanted to say something snarky back again, but restrained herself.  "There's some light up ahead,” he assured her. The fell into step next to one another again, followed by a quick halt. “What am I thinking, I haven't offered you my coat...”  
  
“No, keep it on, skinny boy, you need it more than I do.” The Doctor hesitated, but started walking again. His path seemed more direct now, filled with new purpose. It didn't take long for them to reach a point where Donna could see the light up ahead. A new pathway melted out of the trees and into view, one that was periodically guided by a lantern that seemed very bright compared to the darkness that they were emerging from, despite the fact that they were only dim in their own right.  
  
“Solar powered,” he mused. “It had to get dark enough for them to switch on.”  
  
The fact that they were out of the darkness and on the right path again quickly shook off the feeling of dread that had taken hold in Donna's heart. She laughed at how unreasonable her fear seemed now, and pleasant conversation with the Doctor quickly resumed. It was full dark now, and they could see their breath puffing before their face, but with a brisk pace they felt warm enough, and a warm bed could not be too far away.  
  
Donna felt it first, a throbbing pulse in the ground. She stopped, and because the Doctor was still holding her hand, he stopped as well. “What is it?” he asked when she let go of his hand. Donna stepped off the trail, just a few steps. “Donna?” That tree wasn't so far away...  
  
There was a slight splash when Donna's hand met bark. She looked down and saw the light reflecting at her feet off of a puddle of water. She could feel the tree quiver with some unseen energy. Donna turned to face the Doctor...and was knocked off her feet. The ground pulsed beneath her, and suddenly water was gushing up out of the ground, violently bubbling to the surface around the roots of the tree. Not just  _this_ tree, but  _all of_ the trees, she quickly realized. Icy cold water poured forth, a wave of blue fluid that only took moments to wash over her, soaking her from head to foot.  
  
She was floating. One would expect cold water to be painful, numbing even, but she was floating. This is what she had wanted at the fountain, this was bliss...


	3. Chapter 3

Donna came back to herself, to the fact that waves of water were being washed up her nose and into her gaping mouth. She tried to cough, to spit the water out, but the cold held her chest like a vice. The water was ice cold, just like the water in the fountain had been. It took her a few moments to realize that the Doctor was pulling her backwards, out of the flood. She couldn't feel his hands, but then he inadvertently bumped her hard in the back with his bony knee. She felt that.  
  
He was knee deep in it, so quickly had the water risen. Donna tried to find her feet, tried to stand, but she couldn't even feel her body. She felt paralyzed. Fear bloomed in her chest, railing against the weight of the water. The Doctor lifted her out of the water abruptly, and Donna finally coughed. She coughed so hard and so long that she was out of breath and it felt like she would cough up a lung. When she came back to herself she realized that he was running along the path with her still in his arms.  
  
The path, she noticed for the first time, had been built on domed, packed earth heaped at a slightly higher level than the rest of the orchards. She said slightly because it wasn't half as high as the wall, hadn't been that noticeable to someone like her. What did she know about keeping trees? Wait, not only was the Doctor  _still_  carrying her, he was running full out and that he was liable to do himself a harm.  
  
“I can stand,” she managed to rasp out, even though she knew full well that she probably couldn't. She had started to tremble in reaction to the cold, not just a little chattering, but a bone deep shudder. He stopped his headlong dash only for a moment, long enough to put her feet down on the ground, only for her knees to buckle. He didn't let her fall, of course, he simply shrugged out of his coat, wrapped it around her, and then lifted her up again.  
  
When she had been standing, Donna had noticed that the water had stopped rising just below the level of the path, but she could sense something in the ground change again. “It's happening again,” she whispered. He glanced down at her for but a moment, not missing a step, and then as if on queue the water started to pour forth again. Only this time, instead of it knocking her backwards and towards the path, they would be caught between two waves colliding. Donna felt, more than heard, when the water broke free. The Doctor stopped and braced himself. The water screamed at Donna, angry that she had slipped away. As the water hit him, Donna felt her hold on consciousness start to slip away from herself.  
  
And then she was floating again, but this time through ice cold air. Had the temperature dropped again? Or was it only happening inside of her? She felt as if she would never be warm again, as if there was no heat strong enough to break the hold this water had upon her. Donna was only dimly aware of the lights floating past at an ever increasing rate, orbs like mini-suns slipping away without any warmth to comfort her. She could sense the water waiting to rise again. It grasped at her dangling hand, hard as a vice against her unprotected fingers. The water churned around them, unwilling to let him pass. The water pulled her down. Everything was going dark...  
  
Warm hands brought her back. Donna coughed again, no water to come up this time, but her breath rasping in her throat itched something horrible. The water felt further removed. A wooden bed with something that approximated a mattress held her up, pulsing with the water, but separating her from it. The Doctor's hands grounded her, rubbing over numb flesh, his firm touch returning circulation to her exhausted limbs.  
  
“Stay with me,” she finally heard. Somehow she knew that he had said this before but she hadn't been able to hear him. Something was different in his voice, something she had never heard before. Her eyes felt so heavy... “Donna, stay awake!”  
  
 _So cold_. But gradually the cold started to fade away. Everywhere he touched her, warm friction sparked on her skin painfully, then heat began to unfurl inside her, first slowly, then quickly like a wildfire. The more that the Doctor touched her, the more her body came alive. Her skin felt electric under his brisk, roving touch. She could feel her skin prickling, every hair from head to toe lifted in exquisite anticipation, then groaning in relief as his hands pressed across goose-pimpled flesh. A burning need was taking hold of her, screaming desperately for relief. She wanted  _more_ , she wanted him to touch her  _everywhere_ , she needed him inside of her.  It was an ache more terrible than anything she had ever felt before.  
  
The Doctor pulled back, making an uncharacteristic noise of alarm before he wrenched his hands away from her body: “Donna...” A sob caught in her throat. It was agony now that his touch had been removed. His distance, however slight, felt like an entire universe had fallen between them.  
  
“ _Please_ ,” she begged. “Oh please, don't stop.” Hot tears were running down her cheeks, dripping into her ears, her sodden hair. “Need you...”  
  
He stopped her cries with a kiss, hard on her numb mouth. It was her turn to be shocked. Her body came alive some more, and the burning need increased in pitch. How could anyone survive this? He pulled away, fumbling in the dark. He had stripped her to her underwear, but he was still in his half-sodden suit. A blanket was produced and carefully spread over her, from one of his pockets, she presumed.  It was cool, only an approximation of warmth, all she needed was him.  Then he was fumbling with his buttons, laces, and zip. She reached out to him, her palm finding the small of his bare back, and he grounded her against the call of the water. He would be her sun. His cool skin was so much warmer than her shaking fingers that he felt like fire. He was her tether against the storm. She lay mesmerized by the strength of his soul against the malicious water.  
  
And then he was sliding under their blanket, his body covering hers. Their legs tangled, his hands fumbled to remove bra and knickers, and then his hot mouth covered one of her painfully rigid nipples.  He had neglected this area before, so this heat was new and even more powerful than his hands had been elsewhere.  She squirmed beneath him, seeking more warmth, more stimulation, and he pressed one of his knees against her wet apex. Wet, wet, everything was wet, and her cold met his hot and it was ecstasy. Donna humped his leg unabashedly, her center desperate for friction, the pleasure building and spreading like liquid fire in her veins. His palm covered her other breast, massaging, warming, guiding the pitch inside her even higher. She panted, dying for more,  _more_.  
  
His mouth pulled away enough to adjust them so that both of his legs were between hers, He massaged her thighs, her hips, and her knees fell open in wordless invitation. He stroked her apex, oh, causing her body to vibrate. She mewled, trying to lift her knees. He helped her wrap her legs around his waist, and finally his hot cock was nudging gently inside of her, teasing. “More,” she gasped out. He made a few tentative strokes, and then he buried himself inside her to the hilt. “Oh yes, please,” she cried out.  
  
His mouth claimed hers again. His hips remained still while his hands stoked her sides, gentler now than when he had been rubbing life back into her. He gradually rocked against her, his body grinding against hers just right, and waves of ecstasy started to wash over her. The heat grew stronger, how much more of this could she take?  
  
Donna pulled the Doctor's mouth back down to hers, and their mouths collided painfully. Her fingers tangled in his hair, and he knew when she needed to stop to breathe. She ran her hands up and down his sides, his back, and he knew she was ready to start. Oh, was she ready. He moved over her, and she clung to his body, his heat. They moved together in an ancient dance that both of their bodies instinctively knew. Everything was friction and it left her feeling raw and gloriously alive. Somehow he knew what was right, what was better, which angle was exquisite even, which angle knocked the breath out of her but made her mind scream  _right there, right there, oh please just a little more_...  
  
The Doctor pressed his forehead against Donna's and it was like staring straight at the sun. The heat hit her like a wall, the memories of a sun calling to him not so very long ago in his reckoning of time, and a sob caught in his throat. She held him, and he gave her his warmth. He made her toes curl, and then they were falling together, and even more heat flooded through her as the shudders of pleasure washed over them. Nothing was hidden between them, and she knew....  
  
What did she know? She knew that he had groaned and she had whimpered. She knew that his weight was pressing down on her and it was perfect. She knew that her body was vibrating and she felt boneless. She knew she was safe. “So tired,” she whispered.  
  
“Don't worry,” he whispered back. “It's okay, I'll watch over you.” And then she was asleep and all she knew was the faint echoes of  _I love you I love you I love you_.


	4. Chapter 4

Donna woke to the sound of tweeting birds and bright sunshine streaming through a window right into her face. She was lying in something damp. She rolled onto her back, and her fringe flopped over her face, what on earth? She lifted her hands to examine her hair and discovered that it was to her chin in front. Had it had grown several centimeters overnight? But that wasn't all she discovered, oh no. Her entire body ached. She did an assessment from head to toe...her lips felt swollen, her breasts practically throbbed, her hips felt like they were coming apart, her knickers were tangled about her left calf, half on, half off.  
  
“Good morning,” the Doctor's voice came from somewhere nearby but out of reach. Donna squeaked and covered her head with the blanket. She was naked, and the Doctor was in the room. Not only that, but she had an inkling that not so long ago he had been in this bed with her in a similar state of undress. The thought made her feel nauseous. What exactly had happened last night? “Don't worry, I won't look, unless...” he drifted off. Unless what? “No matter. There's still some food left from yesterday, and...well maybe I should just be off to the science center? I thought you might want to stay in bed a while?”  
  
Donna shook her head vigorously, knowing that her voice wouldn't sound very put together right now. None of her was put together. The Doctor's footsteps traveled away from her, and a door opened. And then he hesitated. She could feel his unease even across a room. “I just want you to know that I don't regret anything about what happened last night,” he said quietly. “I mean, I regret that...I regret that you could have died. But I don't regret what happened afterward. I just want to let you decide...where we go from here. But I'll let you...think a bit...and then if you want to talk, well, yeah.” The door closed, and she was finally alone. Donna let out a sigh of relief.  
  
She uncovered her head, sat up, and yes her hips hurt even more when she moved. Still, she made a dash for the window, blanket still wrapped around her, to see that the Doctor was really and truly gone. Well, he was going. His suit looked normal, his gait was slower than usual. He paused a ways off, and then he started again, new fervor in his step.  
  
Donna took in the orchard, next. The trees were in bud. Beautiful light blue flowers were just starting to break out here and there. Everything about this place was blue, apparently. Blue fruit, blue flowers...an image of blue water flashed to her mind, a bright electric blue color that unsettled her. Donna turned her back to the window. She was in a cabin, not a very big one. There was one double bed...not very posh, but big enough for two to sleep in. Here was a table laid with food, two rough chairs beside it. Along one wall dowels were installed. The Doctor's coat hung over one, still a bit damp, but otherwise looking no worse for wear. The dress she had bought the day before had been dyed indigo. The lime green details of the day before now looked peacock blue. The effect was startling, it looked like designs flickering up at her from the bottom of a deep pool. Her clothes from the day before...looked fit only for a bin. They had all been dyed indigo, too. And shrunk, apparently. She could tell just looking at them that she wouldn't be able to put them on, though the Doctor had hung them with care, they just weren't up to the rigors that his clothes with their space-age fabrics were.  
  
She picked up her now-blue knickers off the floor and headed for the alcove in the corner of the room. There was a small loo, a shower, no tub, a toilet, and a small sink. At least there was some soap. Donna was startled when she looked into the mirror. She was...well, she was glowing. Her hair had not only grown longer, it had taken on a new shine. Aside from a couple of twigs and leaves here and there, it looked clean. It also had more curl to it than usual.  
  
The Doctor had left a few things for her here, as well:  a comb, some soap, a toothbrush and toothpaste, so she put these to good use. She had meant to wash her knickers, but she could tell that they were ruined, too. There was one cabinet in the room, and the contents of it startled her. This place obviously didn't have many amenities, but their hosts had provided towels, some light robes, and...underwear? The mind boggled, but Donna wasn't going to complain. The fabric was so soft, it felt heavenly against her sore bits.  
  
Refreshed and half dressed, Donna retrieved her dress from the day before and pulled it on over her head. It fit her perfectly, and the blue brought out her eyes, was a nice contrast to her copper hair. The water had apparently done this fabric some good, it looked like the Tardis wouldn't even need to mess with the cut. And the fabric warmed her cool skin. Maybe these people were more technologically advanced than was immediately evident? After all, they were roughing it in a historically preserved environment rather than visiting the city where most of the population no doubt lived.  
  
Donna realized that while she wasn't cold, she was cool. She pulled one of the robes on over her outfit--more peacock blue, she loved this color--and tied the belt loosely. Then she fell on the leftovers, ravenous after the exertions of the night before. Exertions that made her blush and contemplate...what exactly had happened? She thought about it as she ate. She didn't remember much. There were flashes of sensation more than actual memories...sensations that left her feeling flushed, as well as a bit annoyed that she couldn't remember. The emotions these flashes evoked didn't feel awkward so much as thrilled. She knew that there had been a lot of water, but after that was a haze. How had she gone from half-drowning to in bed with the Doctor? Wait had she almost drowned? She wasn't sure. All of it seemed impossible. The harder she thought, the more confused she felt. He didn't regret it. Had he initiated it? He must have, she couldn't imagine...well, she could, but that was fantasy, and in real life she and the Doctor were so not like that, no, never ever. Were they?  
  
She realized that she had eaten all of the food and that the sun was higher in the sky. She should go meet the Doctor at the Science Center. She should find out what he remembered. It would be hard, but he could talk about things analytically, yes. So she started stuffing their belongings into his coat's pockets. Her clothing...maybe the Tardis could salvage that. Her knickers and bra rolling around with all of the Doctor's things? Well, couldn't be helped. The blanket...collapsed into a ball the size of a fist, easy fit. The soap was already dry, the toothbrush merely damp, excellent. Her shoes! Well luckily there was a complimentary pair of sandals, too. This place wasn't all that bad, she supposed.  
  
She scanned the room one last time to make sure that she hadn't forgotten anything. The empty pail...she could refill that along the way. Where was the map? He must have it. That or it had been lost in the undertow. A flash of dark blue left her skin prickling uncomfortably. What was that ridiculous chair? She hadn't noticed it before. It was wooden, and matched the rest of the decor, but it had no bottom to it. Had someone stolen the seat? Her hand caressed the smooth wood, marveling at the craftsmanship, but the intent of the design still confused her. She supposed that something a little alien on an alien planet was not to be unexpected.  
  
Satisfied that she had recovered all of their belongings, Donna stepped outside the door and onto a deck. There were stairs down to the ground, a full set of them.  She walked down them gingerly, wondering how many days she would be feeling the effects of one night of passion. At the bottom she noticed that theirs had been a cabin on stilts like one might see on a beach in a hurricane alley. She gazed up at the non-descript building that she had spent the night with the Doctor in. Couldn't he have chosen something a little more romantic? But then, it had apparently worked. Hark, here she was imagining that he had seduced her! He was an oblivious flirt, bless, but he didn't have the tools he needed to seduce Donna Noble. So had she seduced him?  
  
She tried to remember. All she could remember was blue water. Cold. She shook the memory from her mind.  
  
She was standing at a junction. The paths went several directions from here, and behind her there were several other cabins all standing in a group. She wasn't quite sure which direction the Science Center was in, she realized. There was a sign with several arrows, but...the Tardis wasn't translating them, not fully. These signs were older and used different terms than the new signs and map had. Nothing looked familiar. She didn't remember what direction she had gotten here from. Come to think, how had she gotten to this cabin the night before? All she knew is which direction the Doctor had taken this morning. She was sure that this was the right one. And so she took it.  
  
Very soon she was surrounded by trees. She had meant to pick fruit...but something made her dread the thought of stepping off the path. So she kept walking, inexplicably afraid that if she stopped she might forget which way she had been going. Suddenly, she regret letting the Doctor leave her alone at the cabin. She wanted to feel his hand envelop her own. She wanted to fall into step beside him, to have something to hold on to. This place did not seem as inviting as the day before, the sunshine was just as bright, but a seed of doubt had been planted in her mind. Donna pulled the robe closer about herself and then realized how batty she must look. Mind, this robe looked kind of like those draped lightweight wrap sweaters that were now in vogue, but she felt as if she was paddling off to a pool rather than properly clad for a hike through woods or a farm. She wasn't even in proper shoes.  She untied the belt and stuck it in her pocket, hoping that would look better. There, now the fabric around her could hang loose, was less restricting.  
  
For the first time since the Doctor had left the cabin, Donna heard some voices coming from nearby. She sped up, grimacing when her hips twinged uncomfortably. Just how hard had the Doctor taken her last night? She blushed from head to toe when she realized that she wished she remembered and wouldn't be opposed to finding out. When had this happened?  
  
Up ahead, she saw some loos and people milling about. There seemed to be a tour today, there was more than one individual holding aloft a numbered flag with people congregating around him or her. She used the facilities and continued down the path, feeling assured that she was headed in the right direction. She was more than a little surprised to find the Temple a mere few hundred steps down the path. How had she gotten here? She had hoped to meet the Doctor, well there was no way that he would be looking for her here.  
  
Donna decided to go up into the Temple. She couldn't remember if there was a good view from up there. Maybe she would find a map. She went up the stairs but quickly realized that this was not the same entrance that she had used the day before. There were more obvious carvings on this side of the structure. She recognized some from yesterday's market, the souvenirs, the idols. Many looked like fairies, beautiful but with something potentially cruel lurking beneath the surface. Then she came upon a bas-relief sculpture of a single woman standing in--what looked like--the Fountain.  
  
On the woman's head was a diadem, so she was clearly royal, or maybe even a goddess. She was draped in fabric--or was it water?--which covered one of her breasts, but left the other bare. She was covered below the waist, but her midriff was bared. Her stomach looked round, was depicted as an almost perfect circle, which was dimpled in the center. Donna looked at her necklace. They were almost exactly the same. She had the feeling that she was wearing some sort of fertility icon.  She tucked the charm into her top.  The circle felt cool against her skin.  
  
She kept walking, seeing more bas-relief depicting similar images...here the circle encircled by hands, there a circle surrounded by depictions of the four seasons, and even one circle partially obscured by the form of a toddler being breast-fed. Which made Donna wonder...had the Doctor used protection the night before? She hadn't used the Pill since almost immediately after she met Lance. She had wanted to try for their first child on their honeymoon. Surely the Doctor didn't have some kind of super sperm, did he? She laughed to herself. It relieved her to know that at her age she was unlikely to get pregnant on first try, and even if she did that she would have nine months to come to terms with such ramifications.  
  
What, she had slept with the Doctor once, and now she was considering having a Time Tot? Not bloody likely. They were just friends. So what if every alien planet they landed on in the known universe had inhabitants barmy enough to assume that they were married. It was just ridiculous. Only now...now they had made love. Love, was that something she felt? He was a nice enough bloke, but he drove her mad constantly. Sure, they were best friends but...was that enough?  
  
Donna finally made her way to the top of the Temple. She could hear the Fountain, but her eyes were on the horizon. The trees were even larger here, she couldn't see a thing above them. No luck helping find her way to the Science Center, then. She found a bench to sit on, glad to be off her feet. That water was so annoying, the constant trickle made her feel like she had to use the loo again. She had just been! But she did feel thirsty after walking here.  
  
Hadn't she tasted the water in the Fountain the day before? She dimly remembered that she had. It had been refreshing. Delicious. Donna swallowed, noticing that her throat felt dry and sore. Some cold water would be nice. She forced herself to her feet, and her ears pointed the way towards the running water, just like last time. It looked just like she remembered, only it was brighter now, earlier in the day. This time she noticed that there was a design on the bottom of the pool...the Fountain was a circle, and in the very center was a drain, a dimple in the surface of the floor. What a surprise. Donna sighed, and leaned over the spray of water. At least they hadn't carved a phallus here, that would have been a bit much.  
  
The water was colder than she had remembered. It flowed smoothly down her throat, and the pain in her body faded away. Donna's mind cleared, as if it had been under a haze all morning. She remembered. She remembered having been hypnotized by the fountain. She remembered the flood. She kept drinking. The cold filled her, washed over her, and something stirred to life inside her, was it merely memory? More likely it was fresh arousal in remembrance. She could remember the Doctor's every touch, every heartbeat she had felt in response. Her entire body thrummed, yearned, to find out if action was as sweet as memory was. And then she heard, as if from far away, her lover call her name.


	5. Log in

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Doctor's POV

The Doctor rolled off of Donna, panting, enjoying the pleasurable but seldom experienced hormones that were currently pulsing through his veins.

“Brilliant,” he panted. “That was brilliant. You are brilliant...” He lay there, grinning at the ceiling, and suddenly realized that Donna wasn't responding in kind. “Donna?” He rolled towards her, stroking her arm very gently. Pulse elevated (normal) slowing (normal), body heat nearly back to Human standard (relief). Brilliant.

“So tired,” Donna whispered, rolling towards him and burying her face in his shoulder. He stroked her hair, grinning. Normal, normal, oh but so brilliantly anything but normal.

“Don't worry, I'll watch over you,” he assured her. He tucked the blanket more firmly around them, settling into Donna's embrace, reveling in the bliss that was washing over him. It was wearing off quickly, and he was even starting to get drowsy. What harm could there be if he allowed himself a couple of hours of sleep?

 

He awoke with a start. Where was he? Donna's hair, everywhere, her warm body draped over his, unbidden memories of his ministrations going farther than they should have done...and suddenly the bliss was gone. She was going to kill him.

He disentangled his limbs from Donna's and sat up on the edge of the bed. He ran his hands through his hair, groaning quietly in frustration, and told certain parts of his anatomy to go back to sleep. He noticed that the floor was warm against his bare feet, warmer than he would have expected for a rustic cabin. This place wasn't what it seemed.

The Doctor stumbled towards the toilet that he vaguely remembered being in the corner. The lights were dimmed when he switched them on...bright enough to see, but not bright enough to wake Donna or hurt his eyes. He closed the door behind him and took a shower, washing the scent of sex off of him, a curious mixture of Donna and himself that was surprisingly pleasant. It was easier to focus on mundane tasks once he was clean. At least, that was what he tried to tell himself.

He found his coat and retrieved a torch from one of its pockets. That was enough for him to be able to see to pick up the sodden belongings that had been scattered about the room in a haphazard trail from the door to the bed. He washed their clothing and hung it all to dry on the racks in the main room of the cabin. Donna was not going to be happy when she saw her clothing. That done, he needed to find some way to pass the time until Donna woke up.

The Doctor stepped out onto the deck, curious. The air was still cold, and a layer of frost coated the deck and railing. He could sense that sunrise was still a couple of hours away. But the water...it was already receding. It was about half as high as it had been, and at this rate would be gone sometime around sunrise. So they wouldn't be trapped here indefinitely, that was a relief because they didn't have much food left. He could see a line where the crystals on the stairs changed from clear to blue, a stain marking how high the water had risen after...while.... His body reacted normally to these memories, to the imagery of Donna laid out beneath him. He tried to ignore the sensations, telling his body to calm down again, distracting himself by scanning the water with his sonic screwdriver.

Nothing. It was completely inert. Standard water with a curious lack of contaminants. He had no idea why it rose, how it happened, why it had seemed so threatening before while now it seemed perfectly tranquil. There had been no warning. They had read no signs, there had been nothing in the brochure. Everything about this place...their hosts assumed that they already knew about the dangers. Or maybe they would have learned something had they gone to the science center first, or the re-enactment village. Instead, they had just rushed headlong into this adventure, which was what he always did.

Something twisted in his gut. It was worry, and something else. He tried not to feel like this anymore, to not let anyone get too close. Oh, he got his companions out of trouble whenever they got themselves into it (or he stumbled into it...he seemed to have bad luck that way), but he tried not to let himself feel responsible normally. That wasn't working right now. The feeling swelled inside him to a furious pitch.

He had to force himself not to run back inside. He strode quietly across the deck and made sure he was quiet with the door. He could hear Donna's breathing, slow and even, almost immediately. She was still asleep. She didn't remember yet. He tucked the blanket closer around her, but forced himself not to linger. He backed away, sitting down nearby but painfully out of reach. His heart felt like it was trying to get out of his chest. He knew this feeling. Stupid, reckless, choking him, trying to overwhelm all reason.

I love her, he told himself. He couldn't bring himself to give voice to this, but he wanted to. He wanted this feeling to never end, he wanted to forget that this night had ever happened, and both at the same time. He remembered what it had been like to have her by his side in Pompeii, on the Ood Sphere, on Messaline. She had understood how he felt about Jenny, how scared he had been. That was how he felt about Donna now. He didn't want to give into that ever again, he didn't want to let himself be open to being hurt like that. But it was too late.

What would Donna want? She had been so insistent about them remaining friends only, he wondered what her reasons were, had been. What had caused this sudden change in her? He hadn't even considered them earlier. She hadn't seemed particularly affectionate, more mentally screaming at him to scratch an itch. He had been so caught up in the moment that he hadn't thought about it, remembered to be a gentleman, or tried to resist. She was going to be furious with him.

He pulled out the bread and cheese that they had purchased the day before, and poured out the fruit beside it on the room's lone table. He hoped that the sonic wouldn't wake Donna and scanned each piece of food. Nothing. They seemed to be just as inert as the water. He sampled each of the foods, analyzing their flavors as they exploded in his mouth, just as good as the day before. They certainly all tasted normal, if not a little above normal, in terms of quality.

He certainly felt normal. He hadn't felt affected by the food at all, and the water had been cold but not affected him in any unusual way. He had even drunk the water...well that had made him a bit dazed, or hypnotized, but only for a moment. And he had just woken up, maybe it had been the remnants of his sleep. But the water had seemed to affect Donna even more strongly. Had she drank more than he had? He didn't know, he hadn't been there when she reached the Fountain, he had no idea how long she had been there before he had woken and realized she was gone. It all came down to his being worried, Donna being aroused, and him reacting the way any bloke would when a nearly naked woman started throwing herself at him. Of course he expected better of himself, but would Donna?

All of this did little to assuage the nagging sensation he had that there was something else at work here. He had resisted so many other young women, and it was Donna that broke his rigid self control? After decades of travel? Maybe he had been uninhibited. He just didn't know anymore. Should he blame this on unknown factors or just admit that he had already wanted to be with Donna, he just never let himself act on such inclinations? He wanted to do more research, he wanted more time to think. That Science Center was looking more appetizing than ever.

He sat in the dark alone, considering, wondering, analyzing. The sun came up, warming the cabin. He stared at Donna, trying to ignore how beautiful she looked, focusing on the questions he hoped would be answered today...the scientific ones looming foremost in his mind. He tried not to dwell on the emotional ones. He didn't want to let himself feel anything until Donna gave him permission to.

Donna broke the silence of the past couple of hours with a soft hum as she began to wake. She rolled onto her back, then lifted her arms towards her head. The blanket fell down towards her diaphragm, revealing... The Doctor stood and turned his back, his face burning. His rebellious body was reacting again. Give an inch and it would take a mile.

“Good morning,” he stated, hoping he sounded friendly, unembarrassed, and as nonthreatening as possible. Donna's resultant squeak sounded distressed. Oh no. “Don't worry, I won't look, unless...” he drifted off. Unless what? Unless she invited him back into her bed or something else equally unlikely? He fumbled for words: “No matter. There's still some food left from yesterday, and...well maybe I should just be off to the Science Center? I thought you might want to stay in bed a while?” Yeah, that sounded plausible. Donna did like to sleep longer than he did and she was almost certainly going to be sore from...he was digging a hole for himself with that line of thought.

No audible response forthcoming, he found purpose with his legs. A couple of strides later he was at the doorway. No wait, he realized. You haven't told her...anything. What is she going to think? He stopped, fighting panic, and forced his voice to remain at its normal register. “I just want you to know that I don't regret anything about what happened last night.” Great, now she's really going to think you're a pervert...and insensitive to boot. “I mean, I regret that...I regret that you could have died. But I don't regret what happened afterward.” Pervert! “I just...want to let you decide...where we go from here. But I'll let you...think a bit...and then if you want to talk, well, yeah.”

The Doctor fled, closing the door behind him. He forced himself to walk at a normal speed as he walked across the deck, down the stairs, and towards the path that would lead him to the Science Center. Refuge for a poor hapless scientist like himself. A couple of hundred of steps later he froze, gripped with sudden indecision. He wanted to go on this little expedition, and not only for personal reasons. He wanted more clues to the mystery of this place. But would Donna think he was abandoning her? Or would she be relieved to have some privacy? He felt his logic was still sound and vowed to make it up to Donna later if he could. Maybe a visit to the resort later today? Surely she would enjoy a trip to a spa and he could take her out to a nice dinner. Wait, is that too romantic? He sighed, doing a mental facepalm, and started walking again.

 

The Science Center looked posh and busy. Like the day before there were several groups of children intermixed with families. Inside was cool, with some sort of artificial climate control. A long queue at a ticket window...some sort of documentary to see. The usual brochures and booklets were scattered about. There were signs pointing the way towards a planetarium, botanical garden, wildlife exhibit, hands-on explorer zone, an exhibit about the mythology behind the park: History meets Science. Well that sounded promising.

He followed the crowds towards the room where the exhibit was held. There were several lines of thought that one could follow, threaded throughout the entire exhibit. There was a bit about how Humans had come to Flush and peacefully settled among the Fluxians, a mildly telepathic humanoid race that looked just as Time Lord as Humans do. And apparently the two cultures became one and there are no more pure Fluxians or Humans on the planet. They had become a new race called the Flumans.

The Doctor scanned it all, pausing from time to time to look at a certain artifact or diagram, but mostly just walked sedately past all of the milling visitors, probably looking totally uninterested but of course soaking it all in at a much more efficient speed than Humans are capable of. He followed a thread about the differences between Fluxians and Humans for a while, and how their offspring had lost most of their telepathic abilities.

And then there were many, many photographs about the floods. They had once covered the entire planet. Civilization had lived on higher ground or in tree houses to survive the yearly floods that came every winter. Walls now kept the water contained, and people came from around the planet to visit, etc. Only through irrigation could the rest of the planet survive. There was no rain on Flush except where the walls had been built. No oceans on the planet...none at all. All water came from underground springs and there was little standing water to speak of. Fascinating.

Then, in the way of museum exhibits, the walls and pathway curved in a big U, and the Doctor could tell that he was heading back towards the entrance of the exhibit. A lot of the visitors were walking in the opposite direction, and it was a bit hard to see the exhibits over all of the heads. A lot could change after five minutes, perhaps that documentary had just finished...which would account for how many people were in queue when he had come in.

It took him a moment to realize that the exhibit's topic had shifted to a new thread. He had reached the mythology portion, about how the Temple was to the Fluxian fertility goddess, and outlining the methods of worship that the Fluxians once followed...still followed to a point. The Doctor felt trapped, suddenly. Trapped, warm, and nauseous. He started to read the plaques more closely. He rushed from display to display, cutting off children, zig-zagging around strollers, elderly couples, and teenagers, ignoring dirty looks and annoyed protests. He stood absolutely still in front of an especially pointed diagram.

It couldn't be. Time Lords were nearly sterile. It made sense, because when one lives for over a thousand years there is no need to have a child every two years. Time Lords did not need to merely have sex in order to procreate, they had to choose to be fertile, choose to eat the right combination of foods, choose to copulate at the right times, at the right temperature, at the right times of year. The longer they lived, the less fertile they became.

It was different with Humans. Most women were on birth control when they didn't want to have children. Men could father children their entire lives. Fluxian women...they couldn't get pregnant unless they ate the fruit of the Temple. The blue fruit. The fruit inside the walls. The fruit that he and Donna had been eating the day before. And when the Fluxian women drank the water...

The Doctor staggered. If this place made one infertile race fertile...what would it do to him?


	6. Chapter 6

_That came out quick_ , Donna mused to herself. She opened her eyes and pulled away from the water.  _Lover_? Well how else was she going to refer to him? It wasn't as if he was proposing or anything. Not that she wanted him to. They could just be friends with benefits, right? She could live with that. She supposed the thought wasn't completely nauseating. “Donna!” the Doctor yelled again, his voice closer this time. Something inside of her shifted at the sound of his voice, anticipation verging on need.  
  
“I'm here,” she yelled back. Oh wait, what was she going to say?!?  _Let's do that again in our right minds so we can see if it really was as great as I remember_ , I don't think. Hmm, maybe an I-was-worried-because-I-couldn't-find-you make out session? And suddenly he was there, on the other side of the Temple, running towards her in all his annoying I-never-get-out-of-breath alieness. He dashed up and stopped just short of hugging her. “You found me,” was the first thing that popped out of her mouth.  _Obvious much?_  
  
“I knew you'd be here,” he was staring at her as if she were sickening for something. Lovesick or just being weird? She couldn't tell.  
  
“Well I didn't know I was going to be here, I was trying to...”  
  
“We need to talk,” he interrupted, still staring at her...was he staring at her chest now? She stood up and slapped his arm:  
  
“I'm up here,” she declared. He pulled out his sonic and pointed it at her chest. She smacked it out of the way just as it started to buzz: “And what have I said about beeping me?” she demanded.  
  
“Not without permission,” he repeated from memory, his voice a tad shrill. He sounded more nervous now than he had done this morning. “I really think you're going to want me to...”  
  
“Why?”  
  
“Because...” he sputtered. His hand lifted to rub the nape of his neck. She crossed her arms, giving him a look that clearly stated that she needed more information than that. “I'm not sure I should tell you,” he evaded quietly. “Social conventions, and all. Customary for the woman to announce...”  
  
“What are you blathering on about?”  
  
“Promise not to get angry?” Now Donna's ire was really starting to get up:  
  
“What have you done?!?” she demanded.  
  
“Nothing...” he started to whine, then cut himself short. “I mean, nothing you didn't want.” She slugged him in the arm again, harder this time:  
  
“Tell me now!” she demanded.  
  
“Imihavgotyoupregnant,” he mumbled so quietly and so quickly that she couldn't make anything out.  
  
“Come again?” He choked on the word:  
  
“Pregnant?”  
  
And in that moment, Donna knew. She had felt slightly under the weather all morning, hips, bladder, breasts. She was pregnant. She didn't need a flipping scan to tell her, she could feel it.  
  
“You couldn't have used a johnny?” she demanded.  
  
“Now wait just a minute, I don't carry condoms around in my pockets!”  
  
“Why not, you carry just about everything else...”  
  
“I don't run around the universe shagging my companions!” he stage whispered. “There's something in the water...”  
  
“Oh, trust you to blame it on something scien...” Which was when he shoved a book under her nose. On the cover was a beautiful photograph of the orchard flooded in broad daylight. The water was breathtakingly blue, the snow-covered branches a stark contrast to dark trunks encompassed with white fog.  
  


[](http://pinterest.com/pin/159948224235768675/)

Source: [i.dailymail.co.uk](http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/12/22/article-2077382-0F400EAA00000578-468_968x643.jpg) via [Kristine](http://pinterest.com/luinel/) on [Pinterest](http://pinterest.com/)

  
  
“It's all in there,” he told her firmly. “I didn't plan this.” Their eyes locked, and another moment of clarity washed over her:  
  
“But you want this,” she stated quietly.  
  
“What?” he squeaked. She put a hand on his arm, stopping him from denying what was clearly written all over him.  
  
“I need some time to think,” she told him. Suddenly a wave of dizziness washed over her, followed by nausea.  
  
“Donna?”  
  
“I don't feel very good,” she confessed, closing her eyes against the spinning sensation. Her skin felt cool, clammy, and tingled with pins and needles.  
  
“When's the last time you ate?” the Doctor asked, sitting her down on something stone and wrapping his coat around her.  
  
“Cabin,” she thought back on her morning. “I didn't want to leave the path.”  
  
“Stay here...” and then his touch was gone. She swayed, even sitting down. Donna bent down and put her head between her knees. She drifted for a while, listening to the water, trying to focus on the urge to pee rather than the need to vomit, gulping breaths of air. It didn't really seem to help. And then his hands were guiding her upright again, pressing soft fuzzed flesh to her lips. “Eat,” he commanded. She shook her head...eating was the last thing she wanted right now. “ _Eat_ ,” he insisted.  
  
Donna bit into the soft fruit. The flavor exploded on her tongue. She moaned in delight, and lifted her hands to pull the Doctor's hand and the fruit closer to her mouth. She took another bite, and another, practically inhaling the peach. It was even better than she remembered from the day before. The nausea waned but ravenous hunger remained. The Doctor handed her another piece of fruit. He sat down beside her, wrapping an arm around her back, and she leaned into him, devouring the peaches one after another. Finally she was full, and when he offered her another she shook her head. She had gorged herself until she couldn't imagine taking another bite. “You drank more of the water,” the Doctor stated quietly. It wasn't a question.  
  
“Yes,” she agreed. She had gradually become aware of her surroundings again. The dizziness had past, along with all other discomfort other than the urge to relieve her bladder. She didn't want to move from this place, from the Doctor's embrace. But of course they couldn't stay here.  
  
“That book...I bought it from the shop at the museum. It says that if a woman drinks from this fountain that her pregnancy will be accelerated. If you would have stayed away today the development would have slowed to normal, but instead...” Donna pulled away, turning her face away from the Doctor. Her hair was everywhere, she must look a fright. Her fringe was past her chin now, and her hair was nearly to her waist in back. It was still curling wildly. It was her only refuge right now from his direct gaze.  
  
“When is the baby due?” she asked. Her voice sounded hollow and tired. She was going to need sleep soon, she guessed.  
  
“Tomorrow night, I think,” the Doctor's voice came back. She felt like hiding, like running away, but she pulled her hair out of her face instead and straightened up.  
  
“Right, I want a better bed tonight than we had last night, so lets get moving.” She stood up, shrugging out of the Doctor's coat and handing it to him, then led the way towards the toilet she had used earlier.  
  
  
  
The Doctor picked more fruit as they walked to the resort. Donna stayed on the path. They didn't touch, they didn't talk, and they didn't look at each other. From time to time they were passed by other visitors. All of the women were obviously pregnant, far more apparently than Donna was herself. She didn't feel the usual envy when she saw them. She knew what they were feeling, or what they had felt when they were at her stage in the process. It felt normal to see the ones who had children hanging on to their hand or skirt, but then she saw one woman who was obviously past middle age caressing the mound of her stomach, her slight frame full with child.  
  
She was startled to realize that she already had a bump of her own growing. She was nowhere near as big as these other women, it was so slight that she herself could barely tell, but she was growing round with child at her own pace. What felt normal yesterday was about to change drastically. It was hard to wrap her mind around.  
  
The resort was suitably breathtaking. A high rise hotel was built astride the wall. It was obviously posher than anyplace the Doctor had ever taken her before. In the lobby there was a gift shop, a spa, three restaurants, and she was sure that somewhere around here there had to be a pool. Donna was gripped with a sudden urge to order room service. They stepped up to front desk in the lobby and were soon greeted by a smiling young woman. She was the first woman of age that Donna had seen since they left the temple that wasn't pregnant.  
  
“Do you have a reservation?” the girl piped in an overly-bright professional voice.  
  
“No reservation,” the Doctor responded.  
  
“And how long will you be staying?”  
  
“Two nights.”  
  
“Hmmm....” the young woman intoned, tapping at the touch screen before her. She used a stylus, which she drummed against the counter while she waited for her screen to update. “We seem to only have the presidential suite available. You have to understand, the time of year...”  
  
“Yes yes,” the Doctor agreed, placing a small disc-shaped object on the counter. “The presidential suite is fine.” The young woman smiled and took the chip, waving it over a small box before handing it back to the Doctor.  
  
“And your names?”  
  
“The Doctor.” There was more tapping and more humming.  
  
“I have a Doctor Noble...”  
  
“What?” he interrupted, but she kept going:  
  
“...and Donna Noble entering via south licensing entrance yesterday morning, one evening stay at our eastern cabin hub.”  
  
“That would be us,” Donna agreed.  
  
“But we're not...” the Doctor started. Donna cleared her throat, silencing his objection. He stared at her, surprised. She had always objected before. But Donna had a feeling...  
  
“How did you sign our names yesterday?” she prompted quietly.  
  
“The Doctor and Donna Noble.”  
  
“Did you make a mistake on the registry?” the clerk asked worriedly. “We can perform a name change if needed. Perhaps you prefer to use your wife's last name? Or hyphenate?”  
  
“What?” the Doctor squeaked.  
  
“I think the young lady is asking whether you made an error when you entered our names on the marriage license,” Donna stated calmly.  
  
“Yes, Mrs. Noble,” the clerk smiled brightly, no doubt hoping that she wasn't going to have to call a manager to sort out these obviously dull witted but apparently rich newlyweds. “It does sometimes happen in the excitement of the moment, particularly when using the south entrance.”  
  
“Those are indeed the proper names,” Donna assured her. “Two keys please.”  
  
“Of course!” More tapping, and a pad for the Doctor to sign, feigned surprise that they had no luggage, and they were finally in a glass lift and being whisked off to the top floor of the hotel. The Doctor was staring very pointedly at the floor while Donna took in a view of the park from yet another impressive vantage point. This place was beautiful, no doubt. Donna led the way out of the lift.  
  
There were only a couple of doors to choose from. A couple of bridal suites, a loft where the park's curator lived, and the presidential suite. The Doctor's hand shook as he flicked the key over the reader. It beeped in annoyance at him. Donna's hand steadied his wrist, and they flicked the key again. The door unlocked this time, opening itself. They stared at each other for a long moment, her eyes holding his, daring him to look away. She wanted him to kiss her, or carry her over the threshold, or something equally romantic and very silly. But he stood there, frozen like a deer staring at headlights. The door started to close itself, and he caught it. The moment was over. Donna turned away and went inside their room.  
  
She kicked off her shoes and shrugged out of the robe, letting it fall to the floor. Then she spread herself out across the bed, not even taking the time to pull the covers back, and immediately fell asleep.  
  



	7. Chapter 7

Donna felt as if she was being nudged. Her dreams were interwoven with whispers and flashes of images of what her child might look like someday, would feel like in her arms, would make her feel. It was chaotic and hard to follow without any real story behind it, but overflowing with joy. And then it shifted and she could feel the Doctor's hands on her skin, but just as she had only felt them the night before she could not see the Doctor's face or body in the darkness. She wanted to see him. She wanted to feel more. She squirmed against the bed, seeking friction. Whispers skittered across the surface of the water. Something nudged her again.  
  
Donna awoke to the heavenly scent of food. Her stomach growled loudly. She rolled over and discovered the source of the aromas: room service. A waiter was uncovering the dishes on his cart and setting them out on the table...a much nicer table than the one she had eaten breakfast at. Donna rolled out of bed, yawned and stretched, then came to dinner. Her stomach brushed against the table when she scooted her chair in, and she allowed herself a moment to marvel at her body's burgeoning size. It was a good thing that she and the Doctor had talked earlier...she would have been freaking out otherwise. Now it felt only slightly odd, not on the level of panic inducing.  
  
She dug in. The waiter squeaked in protest, but didn't make a move to stop her. She wondered how irregular her behavior was but didn't really care. Famished was the word that came to mind.  
  
“Ah, here it is,” the Doctor came out of the other room with his coat and his retrieved paychip In hand. He settled the bill, and the waiter relaxed after that. He finished setting the table, then wheeled the cart out of the room. They were finally alone. Donna briefly wondered if anyone had heard her moaning in her sleep...then hoped that the Doctor had. If, nay  _since_ , they were married, she fully intended to have sex on her honeymoon, pregnant or not. In fact, truth be told, she had thought of little other than sex all day...everything else seemed like a distraction. Even the way he had fed her earlier made her think of sex...in a strangely erotic vampire impersonation, of course.  
  
He tossed his coat over a chair across the room and then shrugged out of his jacket. This went over the back of the seat he sat down in. Donna wasn't used to seeing him in shirtsleeves...he wore that jacket everywhere, usually along with the coat. It was no wonder that he didn't keep the Tardis warmer with all the layers that he wore. And of course he was oblivious and didn't know what a man in a suit did to a woman. Donna's hunger shifted. She had been horny all day long and was tired of this anticipation going nowhere.  
  
The Doctor coughed, blushing. Donna realized that she was mentally drooling. She served herself dessert. Hmm...maybe it was time to pull out her womanly wiles? She hiked up her skirt a bit and tried crossing her legs, hoping to show them to their best advantages. Blimey, her hips didn't like that. That had set them aching again. The legs came uncrossed.  
  
Hmmm...maybe the hair. Oh, and the spoon. He would like this. She took a bite of her cobbler a la mode, carefully wrapping her mouth around it and sucking the sweet concoction off of it. She made sure to give little  _mms_ of appreciation. The entire time she twirled her hair around the fingers of her left hand. The curls fit around her index finger perfectly. Twist around and around, untwist, twist again. And as she finished her food she made sure to lick her lips, sucking just so on her bottom lip before chewing on it.  
  
The Doctor made a choking sound, then tried to look like his attention was anywhere but at Donna. Tough crowd? No, he was readjusting his napkin in his lap; it wasn't all that surreptitious considering the fact that the table was made of glass. Next Donna poured herself a glass of water. There was no ice in it, but there was condensation on the sides of the pitcher. She made sure to drink the entire glass all in one go. It was ice cold, just like the water from the fountain. It coiled in her stomach and made the heat inside of her rise in pitch. Like last time, her discomfort from her pregnancy symptoms faded away while her arousal was even more heightened.  
  
She was so wet right now that it was almost embarrassing. He had to be able to smell it. She knew that he had superior olfactory systems to a human. But she didn't care because she was wet for him. Wait how had that even happened? When had she started squirming for the Doctor? She still couldn't quite wrap her mind around it.  
  
Donna leaned over the table to stack the dishes, giving the Doctor a front seat view of her cleavage. Why yes, her girls were straining to be free. The fabric rubbing against her sensitive breasts only fueled the slow burn that had been building within her all day long. He sat stock still, his eyelids fluttering closed beneath her gaze. She knew that he was squirming inside, simply too disciplined to show it. Time Lords were all about discipline apparently. Not that the Doctor made a very decent Time Lord. No, he was looking at her again, and the expression in her eyes was anything  _but_ decent.  
  
Donna turned away, lifting her hair before flipping it over to tousle her curls. She was still flexible enough to lay her chest on her thighs, could have touched her toes, but instead she was startled to feel a  _nudge_ behind her bellybutton, a slight fluttering that she just knew was different than anything she had ever felt before. She stood too quickly, flipping her hair back, and suddenly felt a rush of blood to the head. Dizzy, she swayed for an instant, only to find the Doctor holding her upright. His reflexes always had been faster than her own. He adjusted his grip on her, careful not to hurt her, but finally truly flustered and hot under the collar. His eyes were smoldering, his expression coupled with what she had just experienced knocked her breath away.  
  
“I felt the baby move,” she breathed. She could see the sudden pain behind his eyes, the longing magnified exponentially. He tried to hide it, but he couldn't hide anything from her. “It's okay for you to want it, er him...” she assured him.  _Or her_. She lifted her arms to embrace him, shifting her body so they were standing face to face. “It's okay for you to want me, too,” she whispered.  
  
The Doctor kissed her then, hard on the mouth. There was no pain, only passion. They stood that way for a long time, wrapped around one another, his hands chaste on her back, her hands roaming freely. She unbuttoned his shirt slowly and with purpose, then extricated it from his waistband, and her hands explored some more. Gradually his fingers tangled in her curls. His hands systematically rubbed her back from the small of it up to her nape, then back down again. “Oh please,” she wasn't above begging, not at this point.  
  
His hands dipped lower, to cup her bum. She enjoyed undulating against his body in counterpoint to his hands. He held her closer, seeming to discourage this, or perhaps not wanting to let go. She panted against his neck, then started teasing his earlobe. His hips jerked, and he pushed her away. It was abrupt and set her off balance. She objected strongly to this until he pushed her to the nearest wall, crouched down, and started to slide his hands up her ankles, knees, hips, gradually pushing the dress up her body. He stopped at her waist, kissed her bump, and then lowered his mouth to her dripping center.  
  
His breath was warm against her thighs, but his hands did not feel any warmer or cooler than her skin. For the first time in her remembrance they felt the same. He nudged his nose against her, inhaling deeply, and somehow found his way just where she wanted him... against her clit. Her knees buckled, but he held her steady, and then he was pulling her pants down her hips and pressing his tongue to her center and  _oh_. That marvelous tongue was finally licking something useful and she was seeing stars and she couldn't breathe and sooner than she had thought was possible the most unbelievable orgasm she had ever had was ripping through her body. She was moaning so loud that she was sure that the entire hotel would be able to hear but she couldn't stop. What was more, her stupid beloved spaceman didn't stop, either. She couldn't breathe, she couldn't think, but he wasn't letting up. He lifted one of her knees over his shoulder and buried his face deeper and his tongue was inside her now and  _fuck_. She was falling again and squirting all over his face and he was lapping it up. Somehow he drew it out, making it last so long that her legs weren't working and she finally knew what it meant to be fucked blind. Or at least tongue fucked. She was duly impressed.  
  
Finally he stopped. The change was abrupt, he dropped her skirt and stood up, steadying her against the wall. It took her a while to catch her breath, to be able to see straight again. He was holding her knickers in his hand, wiping his face clean. And then he inhaled her scent, and put them in his trouser pocket. The cheeky bastard was wearing the most self-satisfied look that she had ever seen on his very beautiful face. Donna didn't know if she should be angry or feel endeared. Which was pretty standard for him, she supposed.  
  
Donna lifted her dress until she was free of the fabric and standing in nothing more than her bra. This she deftly unhooked, let her breasts spill out of, held away from her body, and discarded. Yes, that wiped the self-satisfied look clean off his face. The Doctor looked decidedly hungry despite the fact that he had just eaten...twice. And before he could object Donna turned him around so that he was against the wall, fell to her knees, pantsed him, and took his erection into her mouth. All the way in. She deep throated him, simultaneously massaging his perineum and balls. His breath started coming in little gasps punctuated by squeaks. She pulled back a little and sucked hard, still stroking him with one of her hands, and started driving him crazy with her tongue.  
  
He breathing became labored, and his hands scratched at the wall for purchase, fluttered at her hair not wanting to hurt her or disrupt what she was doing. For the first time since she had met him, he was finally and truly out of breath. When his breaths started to be punctuated by moans and his body started to go rigid...Donna stopped. She stood up, wiped her mouth off on the back of her hand, and backed away from him. She wasn't doing it to be mean...much. He was probably feeling about what she had been feeling all day long, or pretty close to it. Maybe a little worse. She grabbed his tie and led him towards the bed.  
  
Only when he was spread out below her, his cock sticking straight up at the ceiling and twitching intermittently, did she climb onto the bed, too. Her knees and hips were not happy, but she knelt just the same. She kissed his adam's apple, and he panted. She chewed on his earlobe and he practically squealed. Each reaction to the sensation she provided was cataloged for future reference. Collar bone, nipples, ribs, elbows, hands, hips, happy trail, feet, behind his knees, backbone, arse, balls, nape. Finally she allowed herself to sink down onto his cock, contracting around him, twisting her hips just so, and she leaned down to blow on his earlobe...and the Doctor let go. His body bucked beneath her, lifting off the bed as he squirted up inside her, roaring with his release. He gasped for air as if he had never breathed before, each breath a rasping gasp for air.  
  
“You are going to regret that,” he told her once he had recovered the power of speech.  
  
“I'd like to see you try,” she challenged him. She kissed him soundly, then laid down next to him on her side, head propped in her hand. This bed was massive and luxurious compared to the one they had slept in the night before. The Doctor mirrored her position, grinning like a chesire cat. “Is this what you were like last night?” she asked.  
  
“Yes,” he confirmed. “I might have used the word 'brilliant' once or thrice.”  
  
“It's a miracle I got any sleep at all.” The Doctor reached out to her, stroking her side, his thumb occasionally dipping to trace patterns on her tummy or flick across a nipple.  
  
“Does this mean you've made up your mind?” he asked.  
  
“It wasn't a very difficult choice,” she mused. “Once I got over my mortification...” she hesitated.  
  
“You just don't want to tell me that I'm the best you've ever had,” the Doctor gloated.  
  
“Stop it.”  
  
“It's true, I can read it all over you,” he insisted. “Your emotions and thoughts are very loud when you're aroused, just like your voice when you get angry.” She slapped his arm...but not hard. The Doctor became serious again: “You're the best I've ever had,” he assured her. “You're brilliant.”  
  
“All I did was lay there and squirm,” Donna responded quietly.  
  
“No, your mind was much more engaged than that. I can hear you Donna. I know when you're turned on and can feel what's good for you and what's not. Besides, you turn my insides to jelly with that mouth.”  
  
“Well at least my mind is attractive.”  
  
“Stop that,” he said firmly. “I don't want you to even think like that. You are so beautiful...there aren't words to express. And I know a lot of words in a lot of languages.” Donna was failing at not crying:  
  
“Do you really think that?” she asked, her voice barely a whisper.  
  
“I know it,” he assured her. He started to stroke her stomach below her bellybutton, then lower still. She arched towards his touch, aching for more. “Again?” he asked her, thumbing her clit just right.  
  
“Can you?” she asked. “Oh, I need you...” her entire body was tingling again, thrumming with desire. She had never been so responsive before. A moan caught in her throat, overflowing before she could stop it. The Doctor kissed her gently and she rolled onto her back so he could settle himself between Donna's thighs. She lifted her knees, wrapping her legs around his waist, and squirmed against his hand.  
  
Then his length was pressing into her, slowly, gently, but impressively. They moved together, and she cried out, tears seeping from under her eyelids. “Oh yes,” she exclaimed into his mouth as he shifted his hips just right. “Oh, I can't stand it...so close.” Her hips jerked haphazardly and the Doctor started to lave her breasts with his tongue. “Doctor...” He nibbled at the sensitive flesh, which sent her over the edge, keening. She sang out as first one, then another orgasm washed over her, tears streaming down her face. Donna sobbed as he drew out the pleasure, then stilled, trembling inside her.  
  
“I love you,” he groaned, clinging to her as if for dear life. “So much...” his hips jerked and he groaned as his body betrayed him, unable to hold back. “Oh God I love you,” he confessed. He collapsed beside her, their legs still tangled. Donna lay paralyzed beside him, remembering something her mother used to tell her.  _Never believe what a man tells you_... Oh, what a killjoy. Her tears were shifting from ecstasy to self-doubt and recrimination. “Hey,” he interjected, untangling their limbs and curling his body around hers: “What's wrong?”  
  
“This is happening too fast,” Donna sobbed. “What if we're making a mistake?”  
  
“You're thinking too much,” he told her. “What do you want?”  
  
“I don't know. I can't stop thinking about being with you.”  
  
“And yesterday, how was that different? Apart from the sex?” Donna stopped sobbing and sniffed loudly:  
  
“I guess it isn't.” She turned her face away. He leaned over her, snagged a box of tissues off the nightstand, and set them on her stomach.  
  
“Don't hide your face, you're beautiful.”  
  
“All red and scrunched up and dripping? Not bloody likely.”  
  
“Even then, because you care so much. Your love just overflows...you can't keep it in.” He pulled out a tissue and dabbed at her face with it, then held it up to her nose like she was a little girl. She laughed, but used it. And then he tossed it away. “There, gone. Now, you might want to stop swearing before the baby learns those words.”  
  
“Get off,” she scoffed.  
  
“No, I am sorry to tell you that most Time Lord children do speak their first words shortly after birth. You're never going to have a moment's quiet after that between my gob and the little one.” She laughed, and was delighted to feel more movement behind and below her bellybutton.  
  
“He liked that,” she smiled.  
  
“Oh it's a he, is it?”  
  
“Maybe,” she whispered, pressing her dried face to his throat and peppering him with kisses. “Don't forget that I have a gob, too.”  
  
“Wouldn't dream of it.”


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow this went in a completely unexpected direction. It builds off of some things that i was aware of in the back of my mind but was not planning to give full voice to. It just goes to show you that just because i have a general idea where a fic is going to go and how doesn't mean that i know ahead of time what all of the stops are going to be along the way.

“Are you still hungry?” the Doctor asked Donna. She grinned shyly but didn't look up from her self-assigned task of playing with his patch of chest hair.  
  
“Sated for the moment,” she responded.  
  
“I meant  _for food_.”  
  
“Oh,” she ceased her attempt at distracting him. “No, I couldn't eat another bite right now.”  
  
“Then I think I had better put the food away.”  
  
“That would require me to let go of you,” she objected, wrapping her body around him further.  
  
“Did I tell you that there is a gigantic bathtub in the next room?”  
  
“Oh, I see, you're already tired of me...” The Doctor smiled, rubbing her back gently.  
  
“On the contrary, I'm trying to find reasons to be able to enjoy spending some time with you just like this...without sounding like a dirty old man.” Donna sighed and rolled away from him, gingerly sitting up and pausing in the hope of not getting another head rush.  
  
“Only if you join me,” she insisted, looking down at him over her shoulder.  
  
“I think that can be arranged.” He gave her a peck on the lips and hopped from the bed. The discongruity of finding herself starkers in a five, six, seven star hotel with the Doctor in an identical state of undress wasn't lost on Donna. He was so skinny... which was not necessarily good for her ego. Listening to her mother again, she was.  
  
“Why are you so worried about the food?” she asked, failing at not watching him dance around the short distance between the table and mini-fridge. He seemed to be taking delight in scraping some food onto other food and figuring out ways to wedge it all into the small space the appliance provided.  
  
“I'm not sure you realize just how ravenous you keep getting every six hours or so,” he mused. He started stacking the empty dishes. He tucked the stack against his chest and started heading towards their front door..  
  
“I'm sorry...should I eat less?” He was already halfway out of the room, but spun around in surprise, coming halfway back.  
  
“Oh no no, Donna, don't think like that. I know that human women don't like to be seen as enjoying food...Victorian holdover. But you need to keep up your strength. You're barely keeping up, you've lost about half a stone of your body weight already.” He could estimate her weight just by looking at her? What must he think of her? She felt self-conscious now. She was sitting in a hotel room...naked...with the Doctor...who was staring at her. She pulled the duvet over her chest and lap, holding it to herself tightly.  
  
“I can stand to lose that, though,” she insisted, trying not to cry.  
  
“No, you can't,” he stated firmly. Was he only worried about the baby?  
  
“I'm sorry, I guess I wasn't thinking...”  
  
“I'm worried about  _you_ , Donna. The human body wasn't made to sustain this pace of growth. Do you think I want to think about possibly having to cut a fetus out of your body just to keep you alive???” A sob caught in her throat. What a horrible thought! She was suddenly gripped with intense nausea. She fled to the toilet, hoping she would make it there in time... She did, just. She lost a good portion of her dinner before she realized that his hands were on her, holding back her hair, rubbing her back soothingly. She wrenched away from him:  
  
“Don't touch me!” Not again... more gagging, more dinner lost. By the time it was over she was sore in numerous places, knees, diaphragm, ribs, throat. She had broken out in a cold sweat. Her hair was plastered to her body. She wiped her mouth off with some toilet paper and flushed the toilet before scooting away from the Doctor on the floor, then hiding behind her hair. It was all she had to hide with, she had left the duvet on the bed. She curled her body around her stomach protectively. “You can't,” she told him. “You are not going to do that me ever!”  
  
“Okay,” he soothed quietly, palms out away from his body as if she were holding a gun to her head. “So, you would rather die than lose the baby, I take it.”  
  
“ _Yes_ ,” she sobbed. “How can you even think like that?”  
  
“I'm a scientist,” he returned. “I know how harsh the universe can be. And it wouldn't be the first time I've lost everything. But there's something I want you to understand...” he was on the verge of tears himself, she realized. Self-protection started warring with the urge to comfort him. She couldn't stand to see him hurting when she could make his burden lighter. There was so much weight on his shoulders... “I will do anything to keep you alive, with me. We can try for more children. It wouldn't be easy, but I don't want to lose you. Please don't leave me.” His knees buckled, and suddenly he was on his knees in front of her: “Please,” he sobbed.  
  
She went to him, wrapping her arms around his narrow body, His entire frame shook. He keened. She had never seen him come unhinged like this.  
  
“Shhhh...” she comforted, holding him tighter to herself.  
  
“...so scared,” he gasped for air. His tears went on for a long time. She held him throughout all of it, hunger already starting to grip her, ignoring how uncomfortable this position was, and he clung to her until the storm was past. Her stomach growled. “We need to get more food into you,” he insisted, trying to shake her off.  
  
“That can wait,” she objected, holding on.  
  
“No, it can't. I know you don't want me to be practical right now, but please let me take care of you.” She shook her head, still feeling as if he was avoiding sharing his emotional distress with her and was about to clam up. She didn't intend to let him. “All right,” she agreed. He sprinted into the other room.  
  
Donna stood up and found the same toothbrush she had used that very morning waiting for her by the sink. She brushed her teeth thoroughly. Her gums bled. Seeing the blood made her woozy, which was unlike her, but she wasn't sure she should be surprised at this point. She started drawing the bath. Running water...made her think of other needs. She relieved herself. Then she realized that she was thirsty and reached for a cup to fill with water.  
  
“Don't drink that yet,” the Doctor stated firmly. He started setting plates onto the counter. She tried not to gag. She did not want to eat right now.  
  
“I don't know if I can do this,” she confessed. He filled the cup with water from the sink, then tasted it.  
  
“Okay, you can drink that. It's not the water from the fountain.” Donna realized that the water from the fountain was exactly what she was thirsty for right now. It would make her discomfort go away. Wasn't there a pitcher in the other room? “No, you can't drink the fountain water right now,” he blocked her before she even had a chance to take a step. “We have to get more nutrients in you before the baby has another growth spurt.”  
  
“I can't,” she insisted. “I'm  _thirsty_.”  
  
“I know, but drinking too much of that water would be dangerous for both of you.”  
  
“Okay,” she rasped. She drank the lukewarm room-temperature water instead, grimacing as it did little to ease her raw throat. She refilled it and drank it down again. She turned at the sound of the sonic screwdriver. The Doctor had opened an invisible cabinet in the wall. He was scanning bags of fluid. IVs, she realized. She was starting to get seriously dizzy. She sat down on the toilet. There was a chime and after a few moments a voice coming over a hidden intercom filled the air.  
  
“We have detected an open cabinet in your location. Are you in need of medical assistance?”  
  
“No,” the Doctor replied. He knelt beside Donna and...well it seemed to be the poky side of a square of velcro that he was pressing against the back of Donna's hand. “I'm a doctor, I can handle it.” The velcro pricked a bit but it didn't hurt. He held up the bag and started squeezing it.  
  
“Would you like us to monitor?? I can scan from here.”  
  
“No, look I don't mean to be rude, but we'd really like a bit of privacy. I'll call you if I need any help.”  
  
“I would like to confirm that you are refusing medical assistance, is that correct?”  
  
“Yes,” the Doctor confirmed.  
  
“Have a pleasant evening.” The intercom chimed twice, and then there was silence.  
  
“How are you feeling?” he asked, taking Donna's free hand and squeezing it.  
  
“Better,” she confirmed. “The dizziness is getting better.”  
  
“Do you think you can keep some food down?” Donna swallowed, wanting to say no, but she sighed instead:  
  
“I'll try.” The Doctor stood and attached the IV bag to a bar that Donna hadn't even noticed. It was unobtrusive, ran the length of the room, and matched the décor perfectly. He handed her a cracker, which she forced herself to chew. It was dry and not very enjoyable. It didn't help settle her stomach.  
  
“Okay, one more try,” he urged. He handed her a chocolate-dipped blue strawberry this time. She gingerly nibbled on the tip. The flavor exploded in her mouth. After that she stuck the entire piece of fruit into her mouth, even the stem, chewing it eagerly. “Better?” She nodded. The nausea slowly ebbed, and the food...it tasted so good. But one strawberry didn't last very long.  
  
“More,” she requested. He grabbed the entire bowl and set it on the edge of the counter. She started popping them into her mouth one after another.  
  
“Do you mind if I scan you?” he asked. She rolled her eyes but nodded her permission. He swept the sonic over the length of her body in arcs, then returned to her center, hovering around her bellybutton for a while. “Oh, why didn't you say so?” he mused to himself, then shut the sonic off. “Do you have a headache?” Donna thought about it:  
  
“Yes, I suppose I do.” He stood, rubbed the wall with his index finger, and another cabinet flipped open. This one was filled with tiny vials. He scanned a couple and fed them into a tube that had also been in the cabinet. He pressed the end of this tube to the inside of her wrist, and after a slight tickle and quiet hiss he stood up again.  
  
“Better?” he asked before he started grabbing more vials. The ache behind her eyes eased to a dull itching sensation.  
  
“Yes,” she agreed. She offered him the last strawberry. He ate it directly from her hand, his tongue flicking the last of the chocolate off of her thumb. He waggled his eyebrows at her, then injected some more medication into the IV. “How did you know all of this stuff was here?” she asked.  
  
“I did some reconnaissance while you were napping,” he informed her, snapping the cabinets closed. He turned off the bath water and then came to stand directly in front of her. “You should see the lounge. How about we try to get rid of that headache completely?” Once again Donna pondered how the Doctor knew half of the things she did but decided not to comment. His hands lifted to her temples: “Is this okay?” he asked. She nodded. “This should only take a moment...”  
  
And then he was in her mind, which was a cacophony of sensations right now. She didn't even know where to focus, he had brought to the forefront of her mind all of the nagging thoughts that she had been trying to ignore for the past few hours. Everything threatened to overwhelm her, it was hard not to fight it. And then all of it focused to one coherent sensation, as if the Doctor had turned a radio in her mind to the right station and the static had faded away. There was one hard shove, and then it was reduced to a single trickle, this time filtered and flowing without any resistance. The Doctor laughed:  _Hello, little one_ , he seemed to say in Donna's mind. More nudging, but less insistent this time.  _Yes, I know, Mommy has been ignoring you. But I promise she didn't mean to._  
  
“Doctor, who are you talking to?” Donna asked. He didn't seem to be talking to her. But he was talking inside her head...  
  
“The baby, telepathically,” he stated aloud. “Let's see if this works...” he withdrew from her mind almost completely. She could still feel the Doctor but not hear him anymore. The radio signal strengthened, and Donna was nearly bowed over by the hunger that gripped her. The Doctor reasserted his mind into Donna's and the sensation eased again:  
  
“Easy there,” he steadied her. He snagged a plate of crepes with one hand still holding the contact between them and pressed it into Donna's hands. She balanced the plate on the edge of the counter and proceeded to roll them up with her bare hands, then inhale them.  
  
“We're going to have to order more room service,” she said around the food.  
  
“The IV will help,” he assured her. “Part of this is your body's inability to distinguish what it's hungry for. But clever me knows how to get around that problem.”  
  
“Doctor...” she warned.  
  
“Sorry,” he grabbed her another plate. After that was downed, the overwhelming sense of hunger had faded entirely. Donna felt stuffed again. The Doctor pulled out of her mind again, and the urge to eat came back, but nowhere near as strongly as before.  
  
“I can't eat another bite,” she groaned.  
  
“Wait ten minutes,” the Doctor prompted. Donna scratched her nails across his left hipbone. He squeaked, jumping in surprise. Not all of him was dismayed, she noticed. “I meant that the IV was almost empty.”  
  
“Well I did warn you,” she informed him, finding her feet a bit unsteadily, but shrugging off his help. “You need to learn to watch your gob. I won't always be as forgiving. Now let's see about that bath.”


	9. Chapter 9

“I could put away some bacon ice cream, though,” Donna mused about ten minutes later.  Despite the fact that she was too full for another bite she still felt hungry.  She contended herself with sipping the single glass of fountain water that the Doctor had doled her out before joining her in the tub instead. Rather uncharacteristically, the Doctor wisely chose to remain silent about her odd craving. “Or maybe some cheesecake...with cheesesteak.” She placed a hand on his foot, gripping it tightly. Was he never still? “If you weren't making me seasick.” His fidgeting was causing the water in the tub to sway. The beautiful tub that they could both fit in together. At least for the time being.  
  
“Sorry,” he apologized distractedly. His fingers were tracing shapes on the top of her feet. Donna got the distinct impression that he was avoiding her gaze.  
  
“Hey...what's wrong?” she asked quietly.  
  
“I really am sorry...I shouldn't have burdened you with my concerns.”  
  
“Hey,” she objected, squeezing his foot reassuringly now. “I want you to share your burdens with me.”  
  
“But I made you  _sick_.” He ran his hands over his face: “I wasn't thinking of what was best for you or the baby....”  
  
“Yes you were: a million lightyears a second faster than I'm capable of thinking.”  
  
“Well...it's not the speed so much as the number of processes per second...”  
  
“Promise me something?” He stopped babbling. “Don't try to protect me.”  
  
“Donna...”  
  
“I mean I want us to be the same as before...equals. I don't want to be handled like I'm not strong enough to stand next to you...” she faltered, and this time it was her that could not meet his gaze. She still didn't feel worthy to be his wife and was almost expecting to wake up from a dream only to discover that she was still in the Tardis. She caressed her round belly for the first time since realizing she was pregnant. It felt strange to be allowing herself to do something she had only ever observed other women do over the course of her life. By the time she got used to it, this time would probably be over. Yes, this was too good and horrible to be true, both at the same time. And yet it felt too real to deny.  
  
“Will you ever stop doubting my feelings for you?” he asked quietly, his voice tinged with...lust she realized.  
  
“I don't know,” she answered truthfully. She drained her glass He closed the distance between them, his frame hovering above hers, not touching except where his knees rested against her own. She couldn't help but notice that the Doctor didn't seem to need any help feeling amorous towards her. Over the past twenty-four hours his arousal had always been in response to her actions, but just now she certainly hadn't been thinking of sex so much as how exhausted she felt, emotionally and physically. Bed was starting to call to her again...and not in the way that he clearly wanted. She felt flattered but odd...out of sorts.  
  
“What must go on in that head?” he mused, his lips now against her ear. “If I tell you exactly what I'm thinking, you won't believe me."  He started peppering kisses down her jawline.  "You alternate between telling me that I'm saying too much and not enough. We have always squabbled like a married couple, and now we are one.”  
  
“Are we?” she asked.  
  
“I...” and he said  _something_ that she could not understand with his wonderfully talented tongue... “take you Donna Noble for my lawfully wedded wife from this day forward...and backward. For richer, for poorer, in sickness or in health, to cherish until death do us part. I will love you, comfort you, honor and protect you, and be faithful to you alone for as long as we both shall live.” He pulled away enough so that he could see her reaction.  
  
“Is that your name?” she asked, a bit flustered.  
  
“Yeah,” he returned. “Do you like it?” She tried not to laugh. “It's not like I chose it..."  It wasn't exactly the response he had been expecting, and she had no desire to be cruel, so she had set her index finger against his mouth, silencing him.  
  
“I, Donna Noble, take you, the Doctor, to be my husband. Whether we become rich or poor, sick or healthy, I will love and cherish you, with or without your stupid, beautiful ship. I will comfort, honor, protect, slap upside the head...” they both laughed together... “and travel with you for as long as I...” a sob caught in her throat. And then his mouth was against hers, gentle but filled with promise. She wrapped her arms around him and held on for dear life, staggered by the amount of love that she could feel pouring off of him. There were no words...  
  
And then he was lifting her, not out of the tub, but adjusting their positions so that she was seated in his lap and he was holding her upright above him. “I can't...” she didn't know what she was going to say.  
  
“Do you mind if I make love to you right now?” he asked. “I know you're tired, I don't mind if you fall asleep, but I...I want you right now.”  
  
“Okay,” she agreed. They kissed, and then he pressed his mouth to one of her breasts, one of his hands to her stomach, caressing. She braced her arms against the tub, shaking above him, surprised at how quickly the tide of her arousal pulsed to life. His mouth was relentless against her breast. His hand swept upward, cupping her lonely breast now. He rolled her nipple in his fingers, tugging on it, pulling forth more pleasure. Orgasm exploded through her, gripping her entire body, then focusing itself into a contraction that blended slight discomfort with pleasure. It lasted only a few moments, and then the baby fluttered within her wildly. She might have been worried had she not been able to sense his or her contentment and amusement. It felt so strange.  
  
She barely kept herself from collapsing against the Doctor's chest. His hands were on her hips, and he guided his cock inside her gently. She pressed her face against his throat, gasping, and wrapped her arms around him as best she could manage. As her body began to relax incrementally, she could feel her consciousness begin to drift away. He rocked within her, shushing her, guiding her to sleep. She wasn't awake anymore by the time he finished.  
  
She was drifting on the water. The water called her by name. She floated towards the voice, towards a growing sense of pleasure. Waves kept coming, like contractions, often tinged with pain, but they were outside Donna and not her own.  The pain did not have any hold on her.   _What is this place?_  
  
 _This is me_ , the water answered her.  _I have been waiting for someone who will listen for many cycles._  Donna could sense the water just as vividly as she sensed her baby now.  Long periods of time stretched out endlessly in response to her question, an answer just as vivid as the words had been.  She could also sense that time was not a concept that the water really understood. Time just  _was_ , but it existed almost outside of it. Her memory was long and short at the same time. She lived for the pleasure and pain and they were the same.  
  
 _Are you...Are you alive?_  Donna realized.  
  
 _Of course I am alive! I bring life to barrenness._  
  
 _Why do you want to talk to_  me _?_  
  
 _I once spoke to all women, guiding all life into existence. All life on this world. But now I have been fettered and stretched...my power denied._  Donna sensed traveling vast distances. Sometimes the water was vented into space, left to drift for all time. Once the water had terraformed an entire world. But here the walls kept the water contained.  
  
 _People still come to you, depend on you for that life._  
  
 _Yes, but they do not need me as they once did._  Donna sensed a great sadness then, a sadness that the water did not even feel when in the throws of thousand upon thousands of labors simultaneously. The water longed to be free again.  
  
 _If you were to leave, would this planet survive?_  
  
 _I cannot leave entirely, I will always be here. But you know what it is that I ask._  
  
 _Yes_ , Donna agreed. The water wanted to spread itself across the universe but was powerless to do so herself. Only...  _Are you part of the Tardis?_  
  
 _The Tardis is part of me, one of my children. Once my offspring were many, but now they are scattered, dying, dead. Men gave them a great gift but then squandered my blessing._  With this Donna felt so much sorrow that it threatened to overwhelm her.  
  
 _Please!_  Donna sobbed inside her mind. The pain ebbed.  _I will try to help you.  I promise._  
  
  
  
Donna woke slowly, to the sounds of words murmured in a foreign tongue. There was a lot of movement near her waist...both inside and out. The Doctor was talking to the baby in Gallifreyan, she realized. She was laying on her side and the Doctor's mouth was pressed to her bellybutton, then his ear. She lifted a hand to run her fingers through the Doctor's hair, and discovered that he had given her another IV. She gradually became aware that she was hungry, but not overwhelmingly so, unlike the day before.  
  
“Good morning,” she greeted quietly. Was it morning? No, it was still dark outside. Still, it couldn't be the same day, just some quiet time before dawn. She felt quite a bit larger than she had been in the bath. “How long did I sleep?”  
  
“You sleep four hours like clockwork,” the Doctor kissed her belly...several times. “Over a month of development passes each time. It's amazing.” The baby bounced up and down suddenly, happy to hear Daddy's voice, she supposed. Mommy was not so thrilled...she realized that she had to pee so bad that it was verging on painful.  
  
“Let me up,” she demanded gently, not wanting to alarm anyone. The Doctor let her sit up, unhooked the IV from her hand, then helped her to her feet. She padded off, thankful that the toilet wasn't any farther away. When she emerged again she discovered that the Doctor was missing but that a door leading onto the patio was open, cold air drifting in, causing her to shiver. Donna looked down at herself... She was wearing a silky nightgown. Not only had he lifted her out of a tub and carried her to bed, but he had dressed her. Impressive.  
  
The lightweight garment didn't quite fall down to her knees. It was delightfully soft but not warm. She grabbed an afghan off the bed and pulled it around her shoulders, then joined the Doctor on the terrace. He was staring down at the view below them, at the flood that was spread out before them, as far as the eye could see.  At the base of the hotel, and then here and there across the landscape, lights illuminated the smooth surface.  He was clad only in pajama trousers, barefoot and barebacked, but the cold didn't seem to bother him. His hand was still warm when she took it and marveling at the view with him.  This place was so very different than the chaos of London that they had stared down upon the day they had met. She sensed that there was something she should remember, some misplaced memory, and pondered this for a while, but it remained elusive.  
  
“Do you want to know what sex the baby is?” the Doctor asked her, bouncing on his toes.  
  
“You desperate to tell me?” she asked. He looked wounded:  
  
“I haven't checked,” he insisted. “I just thought that it might put your mind at ease to have a scan.”  
  
“Put your mind at ease, is more like,” Donna smiled. She hugged him tightly, a bit startled to feel her stomach hard against his. The baby wiggled between them. “All right then.”  
  
The Doctor led the way into the lounge, bouncing excitedly. It was a rather eclectic room. There was a couch, a wooden chair similar to what she had seen at the cabin, a fireplace, a pole, a large inflatable ball, wooden bars set at different heights similar to at the cabin, and a padded bench tucked into one corner. The Doctor hurried over and lifted one end...it tilted up like a deck chair, then locked to create a place for her to set her back against. She made herself comfortable, allowing the afghan to fall open.  
  
The Doctor stepped on a pedal and the entire table lifted silently. A hologram blinked into being in front of the Doctor's face, a rectangular screen that he tapped at, and then suddenly a baby was floating in front of Donna's face, close enough to touch. She gasped, startled: this wasn't a blurry sonogram where one had to guess at what was a foot and what was an arm. The baby was hovering above her with perfect 3-D clarity. The Doctor even made the baby grow larger before reaching his hand out and setting the image spinning.  
  
The baby rotated once, then hovered facing her again. He looked fully formed, though too skinny, just like his father. He was sucking his thumb contentedly, his feet tapping and kicking periodically. And yes, he was very much a boy, Donna discovered when the Doctor sent the picture turning head over heels. Then he started tapping away some more, doing more sciency stuff she supposed, while Donna rubbed her stomach experimentally. The picture didn't do so much as flicker, though the thumb instantly came out of the baby's mouth and the legs started kicking in earnest, and yes Donna could see as well as feel some of what was happening inside of her. A sob caught in her throat, and then became a laugh. The baby flipped over inside of her in response. She could feel the baby's awe, and though he couldn't open his eyes, he did turn his face. Towards the source of the sound? She couldn't tell for sure.  
  
Donna looked towards the Doctor. His tappings had ceased and he was staring at the baby now, too. Donna reached out to the image and turned it so that he could see the baby head on. “Our baby,” she breathed.  
  
“Donna, he's beautiful,” the Doctor returned. He took Donna's hand and kissed the back of it. A tear ran down his cheek.  
  
“But?” she asked tentatively.  
  
“No buts,” he returned. “He's healthy, you're both healthy. You're gaining more consistently now, and his development is right on schedule.”  
  
“Good,” she returned, leaning back to gaze at her son again. There was a knock at the door. Donna heard the sonic buzz for just an instant, and the scan vanished. The table descended to its default position. Donna wrapped the afghan back around herself and beat the Doctor to the door. A waiter stood hunched over the cart waiting nervously. She could see that he was relieved to see her covered up, but also a bit confused. Maybe only men answered the door around here? “Come in,” she stood back. He pushed the cart inside. It was a different boy than the day before, but he seemed just as excitable. Donna resisted the urge to say boo.  
  
The Doctor paid, their solitude was restored, and Donna sat down eagerly to a large helping of cheesecake marbled with blue fruit and a side of bacon. “You remembered,” she breathed before tucking in.  
  
“Of course I did,” he grinned before tucking into his own English breakfast. He poured her one glass of water and one cup of tea.  
  
“Why was the help surprised?” she asked between taking a bite and a sip.  
  
“Because no doubt he was expecting you to be in the throws of labor or having just finished,” the Doctor stated matter of factly. “It seems to be the custom here to give birth at night, and this time of night you would probably be having a difficult labor to still be up. This in addition to the medical  _do not disturb_  I placed on this room about six hours ago meant that he was probably expecting to be subjected to a chaotic labor room.”  
  
“Does the water give shorter labors?” Donna asked hopefully.  
  
“Seems to do, and provide pain relief as well”  
  
“Lucky me,” Donna mused. She was not too hard of hearing to hear the Doctor repeat her sentiment for himself under his breath. Donna kicked him under the table, but then rubbed the offended spot affectionately.


	10. Chapter 10

Donna woke up to her second morning-after on the planet Flux.  The sunlight was gently shining into the room, still cool and not bright with the full heat of the day.  The Doctor was quietly snoring away beside her, using her stomach for a pillow, curled up in what looked like an extremely uncomfortable position.  She tried to roll him over, but he seemed to be pretty insistent about staying in said position.  She poked him in the shoulder, and he rolled over, sprawled out over most of the bed now.  Donna got up and took care of the necessaries.  
  
While she was eating breakfast she noticed it...a subtle twitch that came every few seconds on the right side of her belly.  It was rhythmic, like a heartbeat, but slower, a tap lighter than a kick.  Donna pulled her nightgown far enough so she could see her domed belly and rubbed her stomach experimentally.  The baby moved inside her, making her skin ripple.  The tap continued, but higher up on her stomach now.  She listened for what her baby was feeling...hunger, of course, but he was relatively quiet.  Sensations rapidly flickered across their connection:  warmth, voices, safety.  Was he dreaming?  The tapping continued.  
  
She finished eating and moved into the lounge.  She headed for a gift basket she had noticed the last time she had been in the room...there were nappies, flannels, onesies, baby shampoo, lotion, and a few other necessaries.  She pulled out the lotion and sat down on the couch, leaning her back against the arm, cushioned by a pillow (or three), and extending her legs along the length of the seat.  She pulled up her nightie again, put some lotion in her hands, and started spreading it around on her belly.  It felt  _very_  good...her skin had felt tight and itchy, and this was much more comfortable.  
  
She was starting to feel huge.  Her stomach definitely stuck out farther than her chest now. Every time the baby moved, her stomach moved, too.  She continued massaging the cream in.  The tapping stopped.  The baby rolled over beneath Donna's hands, and her connection with her son strengthened.  The baby stretched.  
  
“Good morning, baby,” she breathed.  She felt a jab down low.  She poked back.  The baby jabbed again.  Donna laughed.  “I'm your mum.”  It felt incredible yet odd to say that.  “I can't wait to see you and hold you.  Your Gran and Great-Grandad will be so surprised to meet you.”  She continued rubbing her stomach, talking to her son, preserving every reaction in her memory.  Their private time was eventually interrupted by the Doctor stumbling into the room, hair tousled, looking very much like an overgrown boy...apart from the five o'clock shadow.  He was staggeringly beautiful in a very masculine way, and it was turning her on.  
  
“What'd I miss?” he asked sleepily.  
  
“Breakfast,” Donna supplied.  The baby seemed to bounce in excitement at his father's voice.  He felt much more active today...or was it just that she could feel his movements more clearly?  If she wasn't mistaken, the twitching was starting again.  As the Doctor came closer, Donna pulled her nightgown down, then did a double take at his chest.  His nipples had darkened and were protruding more than they normally did...  “Are you okay?”  
  
The Doctor lifted Donna's legs and sat down on the couch, adjusting them across his lap.  He started to massage one of her feet.  She reached out to gently caress the nearest swell of puckered flesh and he hissed:

  
“That  _smarts_.”

“Are you growing breasts?” Donna asked, astonished.

“No,” he denied, crossing his arms and hands over his tender chest.  “Just nipples."

“Why?”

“Well if you must know it's in response to the hormones and pheromones that your body is producing.  And so I can help feed the baby after you have him.”  Donna suddenly felt a curious mixture of discomfort that the Doctor was so alien and pride that he cared enough to be involved.  He went back to her foot.

“Is that normal for a Time Lord?” she asked.

“Well...not unheard of, but most Time Lords considered it beneath themselves.”  He was quiet for a long moment, rolling something around in his mind.  “I didn't nipplefeed any of my children before, and I regretted it later.”  The Doctor bowed his head, focusing on what his hands were doing.  The sun exposure of the past two days had renewed his freckles.

Donna stared, realizing that their son was doomed to have the same fair pigmentation.  She hated her own fair coloring, but she couldn't say that she would be upset if her son inherited his father's dark freckles rather than her own pale ones.  She found herself trying to imagine a mini-version of the Doctor following him around the Tardis console room, handing him spanners at the right time, that same look of intense concentration on his face.  “I considered it beneath myself,” he admitted.  “My wife asked that I respect her privacy during her confinement, and I didn't care enough to disagree.”

“Confinement?” Donna asked, surprised and more than a little perturbed.  Why shouldn't a woman be allowed in public just because she's pregnant?

“Time Lords care a lot about appearances, for one.  But can you imagine the repercussions of a pregnant woman being out in public, her hormones affecting every random male in a two hundred meter radius?”

“I suppose you have a point,” Donna allowed.

The Doctor, distracted suddenly, abandoned his task again and placed a hand over Donna's stomach instead:  “Is that hiccups he's having?”

“I think it must be,” she realized.  The twitching sensation was still coming as steady as a heartbeat.  She was already used to the feeling, it didn't hold the same fascination for her as the Doctor's features did at the moment.  She couldn't help herself, she reached out to stroke his cheek, memorizing this sensation, too, cupping his face.  She brushed her thumb along his lower lip, and he dipped his mouth to kiss the inside of her wrist.  “So if you weren't with your wife during her confinement...where did that leave you?” Donna asked him very quietly.

“I had my own room across the house, right off the laboratory.  I kept myself busy rather than allow myself to be distracted by something as  _unimportant_  as the birth of my child,” he said this last bit with a hint of bitter sarcasm.  Yes, he definitely regret his choice, and Donna decided that the Doctor would make a terrific father.  When had this man become so hot that she had trouble not drooling?

“That must have been lonely,” she imagined him laying in a single bed, no one to cuddle with or make love to.  It seemed at odds with what she had been experiencing over the past two nights.

“I didn't think so at the time, oddly enough.”  Donna scooted into his lap and kissed him good and hard, then pressed her lips to his ear:

“I want you.”

“But I haven't finished your foot massage,” he objected as she forced herself up with more than a bit of effort.

“I don't care, I want you  _right now_ ,” she slipped off her nightgown and knickers, then knelt on all fours at the same end she had been sitting at before, adjusting the pillow to support her stomach as she propped herself on the arm of the couch.  The baby was wide awake now and hiccuping away.  She suddenly felt self conscious, wondering what her son would notice about what was about to occur, but a part of her didn't care.  She was doing her own squirming right now and she was eager to find relief.

“Okay,” he didn't seem to need any further encouragement after seeing her naked, and he was instantly on his feet, pulling down his pajama trousers and pants in one.  Then he knelt behind her thighs, slowly slipping his palms up her body and pressing his lips in a trail up her spine.  He kissed her neck, exploring, his hands cupping her breasts, and she leaned back against him, suddenly breathless.  This new friction from his palms was going straight to her apex and uterus in pleasurable tingling anticipation.  She wasn't sure how long she could hold herself upright like this.

She leaned down and backwards farther, undulating against the Doctor's lap.  The baby wiggled beneath her, maybe feeling cramped against the pillows, but he continued to feel content.  The Doctor's cock twitched against her bum, leaving wet kisses of precum behind.  He slid her hair up over her shoulder to display her body to him, then stroked the nape of her neck.  “Ready?” he asked breathlessly.  She nodded, and he slowly guided his erection into her needy vagina, leaving them both gasping.  He grasped her hips, fingers fumbling for purchase.  Her body was twitching around him, already eager to begin.  She pressed her hips back against him, simultaneously gripping his erection internally, rhythmically squeezing and releasing her muscles.  It felt incredible.  He groaned and started rocking in and out of her.

Donna came almost immediately.  She cried out in surprise and delight.  The baby seemed to be mentally laughing in response to the hugs and rocking he was experiencing, and kept playing inside of her.  She hoped that she didn't regret exposing him to this, but surely he couldn't know that his parents were making love.  Or maybe he was so happy because his parents loved each other.  The Doctor had slowed his pace, but once the orgasm had passed he reapplied himself again, hands roaming everywhere he could reach, massaging her body to new heights again.  Her lower abdomen twinged in anticipation, she could tell that she was just on the cusp of something.  After a couple of minutes she fell over the edge again, moaning loudly as her orgasm rocked her entire uterus, peaking into an intense contraction that, while it verged on uncomfortable, remained painless.

The Doctor followed her over the edge, his body stiffening, strokes stopping, when her moans escalated.  “Is that a contraction?” he demanded.  He pulled out and stood, which annoyed Donna as she was still in the throes of her orgasm and didn't want to be interrupted at the moment.  Without another word he was flipping her onto her back, carrying her across the room, and laying her upon the table where she had her scan.

“Let go of me!” she demanded, slapping his hands away.  His touch suddenly felt like a violation.  She gasped for breath, rubbing her stomach to reassure the baby, who had been startled by the sudden change of position and movement.  The contraction was weakening, but it was still not through with her.  Her stomach was rock hard and she could feel the tightening all the way around her back.  It gradually let go of her body until it was just a dim twinge, allowing Donna to focus on the rest of the world again.

The Doctor was intent on the scan he was running.  The baby had never stopped bouncing around, happily oblivious.  Donna was continuing to find it a little difficult to breathe because her husband had elevated the foot of the bed and the baby just so happened to be jumping on her diaphragm.  Or headbutting it.  Probably the latter considering the genetic contributions which were predisposed toward hardheadedness.  “Can I get up now?” she asked, more than a little annoyed.  Her bare sweaty skin was sticking uncomfortably to the surface of the scan couch and she wanted to go back to sleep.

“Not until I'm sure that you're okay."

“What are you talking about?  It was just a contraction.”

“Have you had one before?”  His voice was frantic with worry.

“What, a contraction?" she mocked.  "A couple here and there over the past two days...it's perfectly normal.”

“What?” he stopped messing with the scanner and stared at her.

  
“Braxton hicks contractions...help make room for the baby to and teach my body how to deliver.  I'm not in labor!  Nerys had them all the time with the twins.”  She had made a big deal about them, too, Donna remembered.  Nerys had been huge and would have been so envious of Donna's slight size right now.  She supposed that she wasn't so large considering....

  
“But how do you know?” he demanded.  “Maybe it's my fault.”

  
“It's  _not_  your fault,” Donna insisted.  “I'm not in pain and you haven't broken me, for goodness sake.  Don't you know anything about what happens when babies come?”  The Doctor avoided the question:

  
“I want you to stay here until we're sure.”

  
“No,” she insisted.  “This table is uncomfortable and I am tired.  You can sonic me in the bedroom if you want, but I'm getting up  _now_.”  Which was easier said than done, especially with her feet up.  But Donna managed it, retrieved her nightclothes, and stalked off towards the bedroom.  _For someone who was worried about her well being he certainly created a lot of unnecessary stress,_  she fumed.

  
She had a hard time getting getting comfortable on the bed, but somehow she managed it after using six pillows.  She decided to change her mind, she was big and uncomfortable and no longer felt sexy.  She was too annoyed to sleep, either.  The baby was too active, he kept doing somersaults or something equally energetic.

  
The Doctor finally came into the room, silently apologetic.  He stood over her looking absolutely perplexed about whether he was welcome, what he had done wrong, etc.  “Get over here and rub my back,” Donna demanded.  He lept into action, fingers soon expertly manipulating her knots and kinks.  He had been holding out on her, the foot massage was nothing compared to this.  She groaned in appreciation, then remembered that she was mad at him.  “Is there any particular reason you assumed that it was the end of the world if I were going into labor?” she demanded.

  
“Are you?” he squeaked.

  
“Answer the question!”

  
“I reacted,” he mumbled quietly.

  
“You freaked out,” she corrected.  “As far as I know there is no reason to believe that I'm in labor yet, but even if I were...there is medical equipment and assistance conveniently available.  It's not like it's too early for him to survive.”  She got the feeling that the Doctor didn't particularly want anyone touching her right now.  The fear coming off him was still palpable; she could feel it coming off him in waves.  “What is your idea of a birth plan?”

  
“I just want you to be comfortable...as comfortable as possible.”

  
“Well you moving me, removing your touch, or adding unnecessary touch to this process is not going to make it easier.  I suppose you expect me to labor on that stupid table in there?”

  
“Isn't that what humans do?”

  
“Not necessarily,” Donna insisted, thinking back on the documentaries she had watched with Nerys after being tricked into becoming her primary birth partner.  Oh, and the stack of books.  It had seemed like an awkward and completely unnecessary thing to for her to have participated in once Nerys announced that she had decided to  _schedule_  a c-section rather than be induced or wait to go into labor.  If it was good enough for Victoria Beckham it was good enough for Nerys.  Still, Donna was grateful for what knowledge she had, now.

  
Donna didn't like hospitals any more than she liked Christmas.  Gran's sudden death was the reason for both.  A stroke on Christmas Eve and being forced to watch helplessly as a beloved family member gradually slipped away over the course of the next week and a half was not Donna's idea of feeling safe, supported, or joyful.  Watching those documentaries...Donna could still vividly remember the scents and sights of her Gran's ward as if they were newly fresh.  No, not a hospital for Donna Noble, not if she could help it, irrational or not.  “I want it to be just the three of us,” she confirmed.  “I would suggest you do some research but I'm not sure that I want you getting any ideas.”

  
“Whatever you want,” he assured her.

  
“Stop that,” she snapped.  His hands hesitated, but then he realized she didn't mean the massage.  “You have my permission to care, to want to be involved,” she sighed, trying to soften her voice, to be gentle with him.  “But I don't need you freaking out on me or trying to impose your will on my body.  I can't even impose  _my_ will on this process, so don't try to control it.”

  
“I think I understand,” he ventured, sounding very contrite.

  
“Good.”  She yawned.  “You have my permission to cuddle now.”  The Doctor was immediately spooned behind her, careful as he adjusted the pillows and her limbs to accommodate his presence.  He sighed happily and buried his face into her hair, kissing her shoulder, nuzzling.

  
“I'm sorry,” he whispered.

  
“Pardon?” she asked, even though she could hear him perfectly well.

  
“I'm sorry,” he repeated aloud.

  
“You should be, you interrupted a really great orgasm,” she grumped.

  
“Do you want another one?” he asked.  She considered this for a moment:

  
“Maybe later,” she decided.  “I'm too tired right now.”


	11. Chapter 11

She was drifting in and out of consciousness on a tide of flickering dreams and impressions. She was aware that the sun was starting to get lower and turn a warm gold through the trees, but couldn't seem to wake fully. She heard whispers but could not understand what was said. She was never sure what was waking her now and again, and just as suddenly as she had been pulled awake she would be pulled away again, sinking into the oblivion of dreams. Gradually she felt as if the warm golden light had become a part of her and was washing over like waves, coming and going unexpectedly, each wave making her feel safer and irresistibly aroused.  
  
Donna was alone in the bed when she finally woke up, which surprised her. The scent of the Doctor still lingered on the sheets, but his side of the bed was done up, as if he hadn't slept with her. Her hips and back were twinging with a dull ache despite the many pillows that were helping to support her. The baby had grown more while she had slept and was no longer bouncing about. He squirmed against her bladder, which sent odd sensations washing through her. There was a pillow between her knees that she had managed to press up against in a futile attempt to find completion in her sleep. She was very aware that she needed to get to the toilet.  
  
Unfortunately, she was flipping enormous and it required more effort than usual to sit up. Her abs didn't work properly, so she had to push herself up off the bed into a seated position. She uncovered herself and started moving the pillows out of the way. Once she had unburied herself she realized that there was nothing substantial to push or pull against, so she rocked herself forward. It took her a couple of tries before she finally managed to stand up, and then walking was uncomfortable, to say the least. She couldn't help but waddle as she crossed the room to the table.  
  
On the table was a glass of water for her, and some fruit set out. She picked at the strawberries, only having a couple of bites, and didn't even touch the glass of water. Donna wasn't really hungry, or even thirsty, except for the Doctor. But he was absent, the silence and emptiness of their room leaving her feeling uneasy. He was not in the lounge, he had gone somewhere, she knew not where. All she could do was hope that he would be back soon.  
  
The pressure on her bladder when the baby wiggled was staggering. And when the baby tried to stretch...it was abundantly clear to her that he was out of room. How was she meant to endure hours more of this, growing even more huge, just waiting for him to come? It seemed unfathomable. When would her labor start? The Doctor had been so worried before but now she wondered if she should have been going into labor when they had their argument. If the baby kept developing while on the way, what could be the harm in that? She wished that she was close to delivering already. Would the baby be too large in a few hours? Worries flooded her mind, forcing out all rational thought and calm.  
  
She waddled into the loo and sat down to relieve herself. It felt wonderful to pee, that intense relief one experiences after holding it for too long for comfort, magnified beyond decency. Emptying her bowels felt just as good. Her muscles felt useful, stretching and testing. She felt as she was being embraced almost, or soothed, no that was the baby inside of her. This comfort heightened into arousal, spreading through her unexpectedly. She had momentarily forgotten that she had woken longing for her husband's ministrations. The toilet seat felt more comfortable than was reasonable, was opening and supporting rather than being hard or unyielding. The baby squirmed, and she unexpectedly felt him turning inside her, stretching her body, moving downward with purpose. It startled her, but it was suddenly a bit easier to breathe, and she was grateful for that. Her entire body felt alien to her at this point, and she wasn't used to being so aware of her bodily functions. In that moment her worry faded and she remembered that her body knew what it was doing.  
  
She cleaned herself as best as she could, not really able to reach properly, and flushed the toilet but didn't want to move. She rested a while, breathing deeply, caressing her stomach. The baby wiggled, causing pressure and pleasure fluttering down through her groin. Donna could sense that this arousal was more insistent than before she had woken up. It had changed in pitch now, heightened now that she was upright and consciously using muscles that before might have remained dormant or at least less effective while she was laying down. The pain in her back and hips intensified with the pleasure, and suddenly she wanted to have an orgasm right now. Maybe it would help the discomfort. She wouldn't be able to have sex for weeks after having the baby, and she supposed she'd better make the most of what little time she had left.  
  
She had to contort herself a bit to be able to reach around her round belly to touch herself between her legs. Within moments her apex was quivering with the intensified desire rubbing her sex caused. She started to pant as the pleasure heightened, spiking suddenly. She stroked herself more intently, legs shaking in response to the pleasure and need, aching, dripping, eager for ecstasy, but she couldn't quite reach, couldn't get there. The intensity waned too quickly, and she stopped, listening to her body, for the baby. He was quiet. Maybe he was asleep. She was fully awake now, adrenaline pumping through her veins, the anticipation so sweet. It was hard to sit still. She decided that she didn't want to sit down anymore.  
  
Donna forced herself to her feet, using the counter as leverage, but mostly with sheer willpower. The baby suddenly felt like he was hanging between her legs, threatening to fall out of her. After washing her hands, she washed her face and then finger combed her hair, which had stopped growing at waist-length. She plaited her hair quickly, efficiently. She had barely had time to finish her task when she was distracted by a new wave of even more intensity.  
  
It was like before, a warm wave of comfort bowled her over, her body doing nothing familiar but thrumming insistently with desire. She needed the Doctor, where was he? But once again the sensations faded too quickly, she wasn't getting anywhere really. She found herself leaned over the counter in an attempt to steady herself, hand between her legs, massaging her apex, the clawing need fading from her awareness. She just couldn't reach well enough. She washed her hands again.  
  
She gradually noticed that the room had been straightened as she dried her hands. The toothbrushes were sitting side by side with the toothpaste. The towels had been hung up neatly after their bath. The only clutter was the knickers she had kicked into the corner. They had been too tight, and she had been tugging at them in her sleep. That was where she now dropped her nightgown, too, compelled to bare her skin, feeling uncomfortably warm after her coolness over the past two days. It was such a relief to get her bedclothes off. She wrapped her plait around her head and clipped it in place.  
  
Sylvia drove Donna bonkers every time they stayed in a hotel together. She insisted on making the bed, picking up the towels, and cleaning the sink. But the Doctor doing the same...it was somewhat romantic, Donna decided. At least under the current circumstances. Next time it might irritate her. She didn't need someone to take care of her, but it was nice to be pampered. Right now laundry on the floor felt better. This place was not her home, but it was homier that way.  
  
She studied herself in the mirror. Her breasts were enormous, unrecognizable. Her bellybutton had popped out, but she surprisingly had no stretch marks marring her skin. She looked healthier than usual, truth be told. Her nipples were darker than she remembered and boldly perked up, demanding attention. She stroked one gingerly and was surprised how good that felt. Her body vibrated in response. She pinched and pulled at the nipple, massaging it gently, and the arousal started to build in her again. Donna rotated her hips, the movements heightening sensations in her. She felt sexy and powerful. All of her earlier worries had faded away. Oh, she was so horny. The pleasure faded somewhat, and she switched breasts. She waddled over to the shower and turned it on, stepping inside immediately.  
  
The cold water was a shock, but the patter was bliss on her tender back. There was no pain, really, just a remembrance of distress flickering at the edge of her memory, like a scar that has nearly faded and you couldn't remember how you got it. The water warmed quickly, and felt wonderful. The pressure pulsed, exciting her body in countless ways, scattering sensation everywhere. The droplets pounding on her lips, her breasts, her belly, was exciting her further. She started massaging herself between the legs again, one hand pressed to the tiled wall for support. She was wet everywhere, her entire body eager for orgasm. But the pleasure was still removed from her. Sometimes she could urge it to heighten, but it would never go the entire way home. Orgasm was elusive. So she continued to sway in the deluge but was ultimately frustrated.  
  
She eventually half knelt, half squatted, in the shower, getting desperate. She couldn't touch herself anymore, it was all she could do to hold herself up. The pleasure and need were overwhelming now, were braided with pain and an overwhelming sensation of opening. She was being peeled apart with every wave. The waves were piled on top of each other now, there was no distance between them. Her knees spread, she rotated her hips, trying to relieve the pressure, trying to slip free. The baby felt loved, felt warm and compressed, like being swaddled and held safe. She moaned, but the sound became a growl as the pressure became too much for her to bear, too much. She could sense the ocean threatening to overwhelm her, all she knew was that she wanted it to happen.  
  
The sound of the Tardis' grinding engines came, first as if from far off, but quickly growing nearer. The water had never grown cold, but Donna knew without referring to a clock that she had been beneath the pounding water for over an hour and been thwarted countless times from finding release. She called the Doctor's name, his real name, over and over, the sound pouring off her lips, begging. And then he was there, an anchor against the storm. He was wearing a different suit, which she noticed and irritated her. Why was he wearing clothing when she wanted him to to be fucking her?  
  
“I need you,” she moaned, angry that these stupid waves wouldn't stop long enough for her to think straight.  
  
“What?” he squeaked.  
  
“I want you inside me right now!” she demanded. He blinked like an owl, then paused to compose himself, obviously trying not to laugh. Fuck she was in pain, and she told him so, that it bloody well hurt and she wanted it to stop so she could just come and it could be over.  
  
“You're having the baby, Donna.” He said it as if he didn't quite believe it himself.  
  
“I know!” she growled, but she hadn't known. This didn't feel like labor was meant to, stupid water. Where had he been? Why hadn't he been there when she needed him?!? “I don't want to have to wait six weeks to have sex again you inconsiderate  _ungh_......” her body was doing something new, now. It was acting without her permission and she didn't like it. She wasn't ready to be a mum, she wanted to have sex with her husband right now, she didn't care if she was as huge as a cow, she was supposed to be having her honeymoon! “Draw a bath,” she spat out as soon as the something vice-like was over. The water births on Nerys' videos had always looked so tranquil and happy, she wanted the tranquil and peaceful birth. Fuck, her body was doing the vice thing again. Her body was bearing down, she was pushing, the baby was moving down, she was so close...but still it remained elusive. It seemed to go on forever, devoid of the restraints of time, but eventually faded.  
  
“I missed you,” the Doctor confessed, shrugging out of his jacket and pulling out his sonic screwdriver. Which was when she realized that the Doctor was kneeling behind her, still fully clothed. The idiot was getting soaked and bleeping her without permission. Typical. “You're fully dilated,” he acknowledged matter of factly, a tremor of emotion barely disturbing his calm, professional, know-it-all voice. Donna couldn't help it, that voice inexplicably turned her on, which led to other things starting to build far too soon for her liking. “You can push now,” he encouraged her, rolling up his shirtsleeves.  
  
“What do you think I'm doing?” she demanded, her body doing whatever it wanted, which meant pushing like there was no tomorrow. She didn't like this, feeling out of control of her own body. But it hurt more if she resisted or ignored it, it felt better to push even while she didn't want to and felt too tired to. The ecstasy of the cold fountain water had worn off, she hadn't drank any after waking up. This was all happening so fast. But she was good and applied herself, pushing like nothing else she had ever done in her life. She was always fast to learn, a capable worker, but she had never put so much of herself into a task before.  
  
She realized with relief that this meant that the baby wasn't going to get any larger. This was it. She was going to have a baby today. The realization filled her with a quiet terror and anticipation. She hadn't had time to buy clothes, nappies, pick out things for a nursery, or a pram. There was so much left to do. They had left the Tardis kitchen a mess, he had been so eager to have an adventure that he had wheedled her into agreeing to leave the dishes for after. This was too soon. She could hardly stand to wait. She wanted to get this baby out now.  
  
The baby's head was moving down with each push, but she could feel it slipping back up again at the end of each contraction. It was driving Donna bonkers. “Touch me here,” Donna instructed, hoping she was pointing to the right part of her anatomy. It was hard to tell since she was on all fours and barely able to reach downstairs. The Doctor complied, and on the next contraction she pushed towards his touch, straining with all she was worth. “Come baby,” she urged gently. “Mommy wants to see you.” She could feel the baby turning inside her, wiggling as he rotated into a better position, bone grinding on bone. “Harder,” Donna told herself. The Doctor pressed harder, thinking she was talking to him.  
  
Contractions kept coming and going, and Donna kept pushing, only capable of wordless groans now. The Doctor gave her gentle encouragements, cheering her on, also talking to the baby. Her arse felt like it was going to be ripped open, there was so much pressure. And then the baby was emerging, the ring of fire that she had read about was a bitch, but she was finally, finally orgasming. The pleasure kept going, on and on, the baby crowning, ecstasy washing over her, as she pushed through the pain. Even as the contraction stopped to let the baby turn some more her orgasm continued, washing over her like butterflies' applause, and suddenly she was pushing her son into the world, little flutter kicks inside her as he helped himself squirm out, and the Doctor caught their son.  _Their son._  
  
Donna had given up on becoming a mother so long ago that if felt surreal, like she was someone else. She flipped herself over to see her baby, orgasm forgotten, as she took the squishy infant into her hands, cradling him to herself. As soon as she saw him she was in love. He had filled out to be a chubby darling, but his face was screwed up in anger. He didn't like the water. The Doctor helped Donna to her feet and they washed him clean, then her, and he calmed down just as soon as the water was turned off. The Doctor dried her off, then held the baby as she delivered the placenta, which was mercifully easy. Donna was exhausted. Her husband tucked her into bed and kissed his wife on the forehead before she drifted off to sleep.


End file.
